Latest news with #NJMonitor
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Constitutional carry bill clears final House committee, heads to floor
(Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor) The North Carolina House Rules Committee voted 12-10 Tuesday afternoon to pass a controversial bill that would allow individuals to carry concealed firearms without a permit. 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 backed by Republican leadership and would make North Carolina the 30th state to approve of so-called 'constitutional carry.' The bill has already cleared the Senate and now heads to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber. The measure is one of the most contentious topics of the legislative session. While the House Judiciary 2 Committee voted along party lines on the bill last week, Tuesday's roll call vote highlighted the panel's disagreement. Some Republicans, like Rep. Ted Davis of New Hanover, voted against the measure. Others chose not to vote, hinting at their disapproval but unwillingness to deviate from party expectations. Discussion was short, lasting about 10 minutes. Members of the public were not called upon to testify. Primary sponsor Sen. Danny Britt (R-Hoke, Robeson, Scotland) presented the bill to the committee. Rep. Cynthia Ball (D-Wake) expressed worry. 'There are no guardrails for someone who has those convictions to continue to carry, because we're not requiring anything of them until they get caught,' she said. 'That gives me and the people who've been reaching out to me great concern, because the guardrails we have, we hope are somewhat helpful, but having none is a problem.' Ball added that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is opposed to the legislation in its current form. Rep. Blair Eddins (R-Alexander, Wilkes) brought up how under current law, an 18-year-old cannot purchase a pistol from a gun store. However, if they were to receive it from their grandfather, they could open carry the weapon anywhere they want to go in the state of North Carolina. 'In every circumstance and scenario that's been brought before you today in this committee, the gun has already been purchased,' Eddins said. 'It simply addresses a way that a law-abiding citizen can carry the gun.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
House Judiciary panel approves controversial concealed weapons bill
(Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor) The North Carolina House Judiciary 2 Committee voted 6-5 along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill to allow the permitless carry of concealed firearms, one of the most controversial topics of the current legislative session. 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 backed by Republican leadership and would make North Carolina the 30th state to approve of so-called 'constitutional carry.' Having previously cleared the Senate, the bill now proceeds to the House Rules Committee for further consideration. Though the Judiciary 2 Committee has only 10 members — six Republicans and four Democrats — House Minority Leader Robert Reives II (D-Chatham, Randolph) took the unusual step of using his position as a committee 'floater' to attend the meeting and narrow the margin. 'Nine states have allowed constitutional carry at age 18, North Carolina would be the 10th that this bill became law,' primary sponsor Rep. Danny Britt (R-Hoke, Robeson, Scotland) said. One amendment to the legislation increases the public safety employee death benefit to $150,000. Another calls for the University of North Carolina Board of Governors to develop a scholarship program for any child of a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or first responder who is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty. These scholarships would be available for children between the ages of 17 and 28. The bill received opposition from a several lawmakers and members of the public. No one other than Britt spoke in favor of the measure. Rep. Ya Liu (D-Wake) is the mother of two teenagers. She said there's a huge difference between individuals at the age of 18 and 21. At schools, students like Liu's son conduct drills for active shooter and lockdown situations. 'Our children are scared,' Liu said. 'We shouldn't accept it as a way of life, that they have to live with this.' Rep. Laura Budd (D-Mecklenburg) said this morning she told her 15-year-old son on the way to school that SB 50 was on the committee hearing docket today. He was shocked that an 18-year-old at his high school, potentially his classmate, would be allowed to buy a gun, according to Budd. She added that 18-year-olds in the United States can't drink a beer or rent a car. 'But yet, when it comes to something as a lethal as a gun… we want to lower the age and remove more restrictions,' Budd said, pointing out the irony. Anne Enberg, a local legislative leader for Moms Demand Action, said bills like SB 50 won't make communities safer. Enberg brought up a poll conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety in September that found 77% percent of likely North Carolina voters were against removing permit requirements from concealed carry laws. 'We should be looking for solutions that make us safer, not bills that would push crime and public safety's staff in the wrong direction,' she said. John Vanmeter-Kirk is a rising second-year student at North Carolina State University, a volunteer with Students Demand Action, and a lifelong Raleigh resident. He said he was speaking in front of the committee because SB 50 would put his home and community in danger. On Sunday, Vanmeter-Kirk noted, two North Carolina communities experienced mass shootings: one in Hickory and one in Asheville. 'Two innocent North Carolinians are dead, numerous injured, my community torn apart by senseless gun violence that could've been prevented,' Vanmeter-Kirk said. 'Even after two North Carolinians are dead, you're considering this incredibly dangerous bill that will only lead to the loss of more North Carolinians, dishonoring the memory of those we lost two days ago.'
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hope Scholarship board says voucher can't be used on ammunition, witchcraft herbs, animals and more
The Hope Scholarship is clarifying how students can use the money for education expenses after parents asked to purchase ammunition, live animals, witchcraft herbs and a cauldron. (Aristide Economopoulos for NJ Monitor) West Virginia's school voucher program, the Hope Scholarship, is clarifying how students can use the money for education expenses after parents asked to purchase ammunition, gaming consoles, live animals, witchcraft herbs and more through the program. 'We had the request for witchcraft herbs and a cauldron,' said Amy Willard, assistant treasurer for the Hope Scholarship Program, at a May 16 scholarship board meeting. The request was denied. The Hope Scholarship, which launched four years ago, provides roughly $4,900 per student in tax-payer funds to be used for private schooling tuition, homeschooling, microschools and more. Around 11,000 students used the program during the 2024-25 school year. Parents who utilize the Hope Scholarship for homeschooling use a portal to purchase a wide range of educational materials, like curriculums, iPads, water tables, bee keeping materials under $200 and more from vendors. Parents are permitted to use the money for horseback riding lessons and dance studio fees. Hope Scholarship funds are not sent to the parents. Carrie Hodousek, communications director for the State Treasure's Office, said some items are pre-approved and don't require a manual review by the board. Other items are reviewed by an individual or multiple individuals either in the Treasurer's Office and/or the Office's contracted program manager, she explained. 'These items are brought to the board for approval or disapproval,' she said. On May 16, the Hope Scholarship Board issued an updated list of unallowable expenses based on parents' requests. Along with witchcraft herbs, live animals and ammunition, the board said the funds may not be used on these additional items and more: travel sports fees; household furniture, including desks and couches; virtual reality equipment; athletic equipment in excess of $500; medications and supplements; chicken brooders; heat lamps and chicken coops in excess of $400. 'In none of these instances were these items successfully purchased without authorization from the board,' Hodousek said. 'If items are placed on the non-qualifying expense list, it means that the Treasurer's Office did not allow those purchases to go through and then requested guidance from the Hope board as to whether they should be permissible expenses,' she added. The Hope Scholarship program is expected to grow to 50,000 students by 2026, and the price tag has already raised concerns among the GOP-led Legislature, who largely back the program as part of their school choice push. Lawmakers recently approved $97 million for the Hope Scholarship for the upcoming school year — up from this year's $58 million in funding for the program. It was the largest funding increase requested by Gov. Patrick Morrisey in his first budget proposal. In 2027, its price tag is expected to skyrocket to around $300 million, when the program will open up to all students in the state. 'We are leaving other vitally necessary programs underfunded because of an increase in this line item,' Del. Elliott Pritt, R-Fayette, said in April as the House debated bills that funded the program. Pritt, a public school teacher, noted the state's public employee's insurance program, which insures teachers, continues to struggle. Democratic lawmakers in the House proposed a bill banning the use of Hope Scholarship funds at out-of-state schools, but the measure wasn't taken up for consideration during the legislative session. More than $122,000 in Hope funds were used at out of state schools last school year. Public school leaders have said the growing number of students using the program has continued to financial issues as the state is facing a wave of school closures. Under the current school funding formula, counties receive state funding based on the number of students. West Virginia is also experiencing an overall population decline. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Citing ongoing lawsuit, committee opts to defer proposals to alter Maine's 72-hour waiting period
Guns are shown at Caso's Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor) Maine lawmakers will wait to take action on proposed legislation regarding the state's 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases. The Legislature's Judiciary Committee unanimously voted to carry over LD 208, a proposal from House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) to repeal the law passed just last year that requires someone who sells a firearm to wait three days before delivering it to the buyer. However, the committee was divided on whether to carry over an identical bill, LD 1230, with Democrats voting in support and Republicans opposed. The votes taken Friday were not an absolute, but rather a request of the presiding officers who have the final say on what will be carried over. After the waiting period took effect in August, opponents filed a lawsuit in November claiming it violates the Second Amendment rights of people who have passed background checks. Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court judge sided with the gun rights advocates and temporarily paused the waiting period. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey appealed the decision, but a federal appeals court last week refused to reinstate the waiting period while the lawsuit unfolds. Over the past few weeks, Senate co-chair Anne Carney (D-Cumberland) encouraged the committee to carry over Faulkingham's bill and kill the other proposal to streamline the committee's work and allow time for the legal process to play out before making any changes. However, multiple Republicans on the committee said they did not want their names on the record as voting against the bill. 'I'm not going to have my name on that report and follow me forever,' said Rep. Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan), though she agreed it's important to carry over one of the bills in case changes need to be made. Stuck at a stalemate, Carney suggested Friday that the committee vote to carry over both bills, but Republicans also raised concerns with this approach. Committees are only allowed to carry over a limited number of bills from the first to second session, so some Republicans were concerned carrying over identical proposals would waste one of those slots and lead to Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives killing one of the bills. 'Why can't we have a conversation on the floor?' asked Rep. Rachel Henderson (R-Rumford), encouraging the committee to advance LD 1230 this session Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), who voted to carry over both proposals, said his understanding was that the committee decided to not work on either bill while the lawsuit is ongoing. Since the committee hasn't fully workshopped the bills, Lee said sending one to the chamber floors wouldn't make sense. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Washingtonians will need state permit to buy guns under new law
Guns are shown at Caso's Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor) Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday signed into law a controversial policy requiring gun buyers to first pay for a new state permit. Starting in two years, House Bill 1163 will require those interested in purchasing guns to apply for a five-year permit through the Washington State Patrol. Applicants must pay a fee and have completed a certified firearms safety training program within the past five years, with limited exceptions. 'Gun violence in Washington state breaks apart too many families and kills too many children,' Ferguson said. 'We must put commonsense reforms into place that save lives.' Ferguson, a Democrat, advocated for gun control in his three terms as Washington's attorney general. The permit system, set to take effect on May 1, 2027, goes beyond the state's existing background checks, which also require proof of completion of a firearm safety course. Washington also has a 10-day waiting period after a gun dealer requests a background check before they can hand over the gun. State authorities will have to approve one of these new permits if the applicant meets the criteria, as long as they aren't the subject of an arrest warrant or barred from having guns in the first place. The state patrol must issue the permit within 30 days, or 60 days if the applicant doesn't have a state identification card. If an applicant feels the state wrongly denied them a permit, they can appeal in court. The state patrol expects the new program will cost just over $20 million in the 2027-29 budget cycle. Fees collected for fingerprinting and background checks would offset the cost. The system could bring in over $35 million in the 2027-29 biennium, according to the latest fiscal analysis. The measure passed the Legislature along party lines, with Democrats in support. Democrats say the law will strengthen the state's efforts to limit gun violence and suicides. The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, said the law has been a decade in the making. 'I am a mom of two young kids, and I'm someone who has lost someone I love to gun violence,' she said Tuesday. 'This bill is transformative for our state, and we're not done. We've got more to do.' Republicans and gun owners counter that the law is an unconstitutional barrier to the right to bear arms, which is embedded in the state and U.S. constitutions. Some critics insist the law will face court challenges in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 in which the justices ruled new gun laws need to be aligned with the nation's 'historical tradition of firearm regulation.' About a dozen other states have such permit-to-purchase systems. Courts across the country have largely upheld them. This month, the state Supreme Court upheld a similarly divisive ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines in a 7-2 ruling, but didn't grapple with whether Washington's law stayed true to the historical tradition. Opponents of that law vowed to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on Second Amendment grounds. The new permit-to-purchase law was the primary piece of gun control legislation lawmakers approved in Olympia this year. Failed measures would have restricted bulk purchases of ammunition and firearms, imposed an excise tax on firearm and ammunition sales, added new requirements for weapons dealers and further limited the public places where people can carry firearms.
