Gun rights group calls on lawmakers to further loosen state firearm regulation
Gun advocates are urging Republicans in the supermajority to adopt permitless or “constitutional” concealed carry of handguns in North Carolina. (Photo of gun training by George Frey/Getty Images)
Members of Grass Roots North Carolina will be lobbying lawmakers on the opening day to pass “constitutional carry” for North Carolina. The gun rights group has been working behind the scenes, collecting signatures and on Wednesday will deliver a hand truck with thousands of petitions to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger urging him to support a proposal to enshrine the freedom to carry a concealed firearm without a permit.
In the last legislative session, lawmakers repealed North Carolina’s longstanding pistol purchase permit requirement and were quick to override Governor’s Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 41.
House Speaker Tim Moore shared on social media in 2023 the override of Governor Cooper’s veto of SB 41, legislation repealing the pistol purchase permit requirement. (Photo: Tim Moore’s Twitter/X account.)
House Speaker Tim Moore, who is running for Congress, shared a picture of the override on social media and said the legislature’s actions preserved the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians by repealing an outdated system.
Now in the short session, gun advocates are urging Republicans to use their supermajority to go a step further and adopt permitless or “constitutional” concealed carry of handguns.
Last year, Berger told Raleigh’s News & Observer that after disposing of the pistol purchase permitting issue, he didn’t know if there was “any need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns and people’s Second Amendment rights.”
The bill allowing constitutional concealed carry was removed from the calendar before a floor vote and returned to committee.
More than 6,000 people have signed a petition urging lawmakers to give “prompt consideration” to House Bill 189 the “Freedom to Carry NC Act.” The legislation as written would allow citizens who are at least 18 years old to carry concealed handguns in the state of North Carolina without a permit, after completing an approved firearms safety and training course.
A copy of the online petition reminds legislative leaders that “Second Amendment voters were in large part responsible for wins in the 2022 elections which gave Republicans the supermajorities needed to override a veto by Governor Roy Cooper.”
GRNC notes that 29 states have passed some form of constitutional concealed carry. They are hopeful North Carolina becomes the 30th state.
Currently, open carry is legal in North Carolina without a permit.
Session after session “Red Flag” bills stall
On the other end of the political spectrum, lawmakers can expect renewed pressure to tighten people’s access to guns. Student demonstrators urged lawmakers last session to give a fair hearing to bills that would allow for “extreme risk protection orders” — also known as “red flag” legislation.
This followed a fatal shooting of a faculty member (Zijie Yan) on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus by a graduate student. Tailei Qi was charged first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property. Authorities say Qi suffered from untreated mental illness. The ordeal prompted an hours-long lockdown and manhunt on the Chapel Hill campus before Qi was taken into custody.
Extreme risk protection laws allow family members or law enforcement to petition a court for an order for the temporary removal of guns from a dangerous situation, reducing the risk of suicide or a mass shooting.
Despite multiple bills over multiple sessions, red flag laws have yet to receive a single hearing in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Conservative lawmakers also failed to hear legislation last year that would make it unlawful to leave a firearm unattended in a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is locked and the firearm is secured with a trigger lock or other safety device. In Durham, 60% of the firearms stolen by juveniles came from unlocked cars, according to a recent WRAL-TV documentary.
With few restrictions passing at the state level, the Wake County Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution in March directing the county’s school superintendent and staff to “regularly and consistently” provide families with information and resources on the importance of secure gun storage.
North Carolina chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action will hold a Thursday press conference with Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) and Senator Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) to advocate for increased gun safety measures.
Another state, another approach
The debate over the freedom to carry concealed firearms in North Carolina comes as Tennessee lawmakers approved legislation this week that will allow schoolteachers who have had training to carry firearms on school grounds. Critics say the bill will not make schools any safer.
Approval of the Tennessee bill came 13 months after a mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. Three staff members and three 9-year-old children were fatally shot in the ordeal.
Legislation allowing teachers in the Volunteer State to carry concealed guns now heads to the desk of Republican Governor Bill Lee.
Read more about that controversial bill in the Tennessee Lookout.
North Carolina college students held a demonstration during the 2023 session urging lawmakers to tighten gun laws. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
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