I don't understand why everyone says not to get a lifetime permit. Yes, it will take 20 years for it to start benefiting you financially, but after that, you no longer have to pay the $125 renewal fee every 5 years. And chances are, in 20 years, the renewal fee will go up. Yes, you will still have to take a refreshed class every 5 years which you will have to do regardless of a 5 year permit or lifetime permit. So, if you are young, then I think the lifetime permit is the way to go. If you renew every 5 years for 25 years, it will cost you $625 whereas with a lifetime permit it will never cost you more than $500. And so what if you have to do a background check when buying a gun. It takes all of 10 minutes. I am a veteran, so I am getting a lifetime permit for free.
The benefit to not getting a lifetime permit is that you can show your card and not have to fill out and wait for the NICS check. That's it. As a veteran, everything else is equal, since it's free.
It is ridiculous though, that you can't use the lifetime permit to bypass the 4473. You go through the exact same checks every 5 years, you just don't have an exp. date on your card.....