“If Loughlin had not applied for a CCW, I believe that Loughlin would only be required to submit to the Federal NICS check. If that is the case, the county would have no jurisdiction in approval of a firearm purchase.”
Someone else on another post made the same argument as you did here, and that other person quoted Arizona State law stating a requirement by Arizona for the County Sheriff to vouch that a person purchasing a firearm had no mental defects. OOPs!
If that is true, this could get interesting. I'm going to have to do some research.