(The Center Square) – North Carolinians will continue to need a permit from sheriffs to carry a concealed handgun after legislation to do away with the requirement was shelved on the eve of Thursday’s crossover deadline.
House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, removed House Bill 189, known as Freedom to Carry NC, from the House calendar during a marathon voting session in the lower chamber on Wednesday evening.
Bills that do not involve appropriations or revenue or are not part of a legislative study must pass either the House or the Senate by the deadline in order to be eligible to be passed in the remainder of the long session or in the 2024 short session.
HB189 would have eliminated the requirement to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun in North Carolina for anyone over the age of 18, but would have maintained the permit system for reciprocity with other states. The bill also would have authorized elected officials to carry a concealed firearm while performing official duties if they hold a permit.
The bill was introduced in February and cleared two committees earlier this week. Moore referred the bill back to the Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.
The move came the same day Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, told the media the General Assembly made significant progress in protecting gun rights with an earlier repeal of the state’s pistol purchase permit, and suggested additional gun legislation is unlikely this session.
Berger also said timing was an issue.
Some gun rights advocates also objected to provisions in the bill that would have required the completion of an approved firearms safety and training course to conceal a handgun.
At least 27 states have eliminated the requirement for permits to carry concealed handguns, with Florida and Nebraska joining in 2023.
North Carolina lawmakers in March voted to override a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper of Senate Bill 41, “Guarantee 2nd Amendment Freedom and Protections,” to eliminate the state’s 110-year-old permit system for buying a handgun that required permission from county sheriffs.
The bill also allows for concealed carry on private school property when religious services are held and no students are on campus, and creates a safe gun storage program.
The 71-46 vote in the House and 30-19 vote in the Senate marked the 24th Cooper veto to fall to an override, the first since the 2018 midterms ended supermajorities in both chambers for Republicans. Three-fifths majorities are now back in place.
This article First appeared in the center square