Is it ok to return a reference of a function scope static variable?

Question

I wanted to know if that has any ill effects under any circumsatnce.

For ex:

Ex1:
void* func1()
{
   void* p_ref = NULL;
   //function scope static variable
   static int var1 = 2;
   p_ref = &var1;
   return p_ref;
}
Ex2:

//file scope static variable
static int var2 = 2;

void* func2()
{
   void* p_ref = NULL;
   var2 = 3;
   p_ref = &var2;
   return p_ref;
}

So in the above two cases what is the difference apart from the fact that var1 is function scope and var2 is file scope.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I don't believe there is any difference. They're both global variables, it's just that the name of the first one is only visible inside the scope of the function func1.

Answer 2

Essentially no difference apart from scope.

Hence, local variable is preferable if that pointer is going to be the only way to access the variable.