North Carolina House approves controversial gun bill, sends to Stein

Yahoo

2 days ago

North Carolina Legislative Building (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
The North Carolina House voted 59-48 Wednesday to pass a contentious bill authorizing constitutional carry, sending it to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein for approval.
Senate Bill 50, 'Freedom to Carry NC,' would allow individuals who are U.S. citizens, at least 18 years of age, and not otherwise prohibited by law, to carry concealed weapons without applying for a permit.
It's one of the most controversial topics of the legislative session.
Members of Republican leadership support the bill, which would make North Carolina the 30th state to approve of so-called 'constitutional carry.'
Republican Reps. Ted Davis of New Hanover and William Brisson of Bladen and Sampson counties voted against the bill. Davis also voted against the measure during Tuesday's House Rules Committee hearing.
Ten Republicans and 3 Democrats abstained from voting.
Stein signaled to reporters on Tuesday that he would veto the bill, according to The Carolina Journal. It's possible the legislature doesn't have the numbers to override a gubernatorial veto after Republicans lost their supermajority in the House following November's elections.
Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) presented SB 50 to the chamber.
'It allows people to constitutionally carry a firearm without obtaining a permit from the government to exercise their God-given right to defend themselves,' he said.
The bill does not change who may buy a firearm or the circumstances surrounding when or where an individual can carry a firearm, Kidwell said.
Debate was lengthy, lasting about an hour. Roughly half of a dozen Democrats rose to speak out against the legislation, while a handful of Republicans defended it.
Rep. Phil Rubin (D-Wake) cited surveys from Everytown for Gun Safety and Elon University that found a large majority of North Carolina voters were against removing permit requirements from concealed carry laws.
Rep. Allen Buansi (D-Orange) said the bill made him think of his community: the people and the law enforcement.
'This bill would make their jobs a whole lot harder and put them at an even greater risk,' he said.
Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) proposed an amendment that would remove the first section of the legislation — the parts about eliminating the permit process.
It would leave the portions about compensating the families of gun violence victims. These provisions were added by Democratic amendments when the measure appeared on the Senate floor in March.
'I just ask you to vote, pick out the most controversial, dangerous part of the bill,' Morey said.
Kidwell asked the chamber to shut down Morey's amendment.
'This basically just guts out the bill,' he said.
The amendment failed by a vote of 46-61.
Morey argued that SB 50 itself highlights the harm it will cause.
'The first part eradicates the need for a permit to carry a concealed weapon, yet the rest of the bill addresses the irreparable damage that will come,' she said. 'It increases compensation for families, of slain law enforcement, EMS. It provides scholarships for children whose family members die.'
Rep. Tracy Clark (D-Guilford) shared two emotional stories about her own experience and trauma from guns.
A childhood friend died by suicide while the pair attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill together. Four years later, Clark lost another friend, Eve Carson, to homicide.
Carson, UNC-Chapel Hill's student body president, was shot and killed near the campus in March 2008.
'Two totally different stories that I'm traumatized by: suicide with a good guy with a gun, homicide with two very bad guys with a gun,' Clark said. 'I have to speak out today because this bill goes too far.'
House Democratic leader Robert Reives said he was moved by Clark's painful remembrance of her friends lost to gun violence.
'I felt I would be less of a man not to stand up and tell her how much I feel those stories,' said Reives.
Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) reminded the chamber that he, like many of his friends, are part of the baby boomer generation born to World War II veterans whose parents taught them how to own weapons responsibly. Adams said he has owned firearms since he was 11 years old.
But circumstances are different now, Rep. Amos Quick (D-Guilford) retorted. He said everybody is a law-abiding citizen until they're not.
'When I was in school, no one thought about a school shooting,' he said. 'If we pass this bill, we are opening the door potentially for more of our children to have to endure the horrors of being locked in their classroom, because one of their classmates, 18 years old, had the state of North Carolina's stamp of approval to go and get a weapon and conceal it and walk in the school.'
North Carolinians Against Gun Violence are calling on Governor Stein to veto SB 50.
'The safeguards we lose if we repeal the requirement for a concealed carry weapons permit are all too dangerous to risk when it comes to public carry of firearms in North Carolina,' said Becky Ceartas, executive director of NCGV. 'Without a background check, the public and law enforcement do not know who is illegally carry a concealed weapon or not.'
Ceartas said weak concealed carry weapon permitting laws also increase gun thefts by approximately 35%.
'The General Assembly is taking us in the wrong direction for our state, and we urge Governor Stein to veto this dangerous bill.'
Immediately after approving SB 50, the House passed legislation (HB 811CS) that would appropriate $1 million in recurring funds over the next two fiscal years. This would allow North Carolina's community colleges to establish a comprehensive firearm safety instruction course, making 'the instruction as accessible as possible to all citizens 18 years and older who seek to enroll.'