A Permit to Beg

Coming home from Efland, I drove up the exit onto Alston and a man was sitting there with a sign that said, "Homeless. Hungry." I had just come home from a funeral and was looking forward to getting back home and relaxing a bit, but the Holy Spirit got to me, and I was unable to ignore this man. So I went home, packed a lunch and went back out. I sat down next to Allen and gave him the lunch bag. I sat there as we talked for about five minutes or so. As we were talking a policeman came up the ramp, put his lights on, and stopped at us. He said, "You all have to leave. You have to have a permit to beg. Or else I will have to fine you." I stayed quiet while Allen began an argument with the police officer. I'm not sure Allen was telling the truth, but by the end of the argument he was claiming to have a permit. The policeman didn't request it but told us to leave. After he left, Allen said he was leaving so he didn't get arrested. I'm not sure we were ever threatened with arrest (I don't remember everything the policeman said), but I got up an left as well. So here's my question: should "begging" require a permit? I'm inclined to say "no", and its probably the closest moment I've had to being willing to "risk arrest" to challenge the issue. But I'm not sure. What do others think?