North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without obtaining a permit from a local sheriff — after the Republican-controlled legislature overrode a Democratic governor’s veto on Wednesday — for the first time since 2018.
The House voted 71-46 to enact the bill, which ends the longstanding permit system that required sheriffs to conduct character evaluations and criminal history checks of pistol applicants. The Senate on Tuesday overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in a party-line vote.
The permit revocation is effective immediately. Cooper and Democratic lawmakers warned that it allows a vast number of dangerous people to obtain weapons through private sales that do not require background checks, and laws meant to prevent them from committing violent crimes. Limits the ability to enforce.
People who buy a pistol from a gun store or federally licensed dealer are still subject to a national background check, and concealed weapons permits are still required.
Bill supporters say the sheriff’s screening process for handguns was no longer necessary in light of significant updates to the national background check system. They also argue that the permit system was not very effective at preventing criminals from obtaining guns.
The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association supports repeal in light of the national system updates, but its current president does not.
Although Republican seat gains in the midterm elections gave them a veto-proof margin in the Senate, they were one seat away from an outright majority in the House.
Wednesday’s House vote tally showed three Democrats — Mecklenburg County Reps. Tricia Cotham, Cecil Brockman of Guilford County, and Michael Ray of Northampton County – failed to vote on the override, creating a sufficient margin to meet the constitutional requirement. Republicans needed at least one Democratic member to join them, or at least two Democrats to vote no.
Brockman was in urgent care Wednesday morning, according to a statement released by his office. Kotham said in a statement that she was undergoing treatment at the designated hospital and had informed both parties that she would be absent. She said she does not support revoking the permit.
A phone message left at Ray’s legislative office was not immediately returned Wednesday. Republicans gave the chairmanship of the committee to Ray and Cotham this year—a rarity for the majority party in power.
A liberal-leaning group called Carolina Forward posted a fundraising tweet targeting the three representatives shortly after the vote, promising to “hold them accountable.”
House Speaker Tim Moore, presiding over the chamber during a Cleveland County Republican override vote, said that the provisions contained in the bill “have been a long-standing goal of Second Amendment advocates in our state, and we are finally happy with this legislation.” Have completed the row.”
Moore used a parliamentary trick on Wednesday to block debate before the vote, prompting frustration among Democrats.
Cooper, who is limited from seeking reelection next year, criticized the House leadership’s move, saying in a tweet that the arguments for upholding his veto would be “too compelling for him to hear.”
Ahead of the Senate vote on Tuesday, some Democrats urged loosening gun access in the immediate aftermath of Monday’s mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, despite Republicans urging that lawmakers refrain from politicizing the shooting.
“For us to be tone deaf about what happened in Nashville and to pretend that it doesn’t matter, to pretend that it can’t be an issue that we have to raise, it’s disturbing — sitting up here with a bunch of kids,” House Minority Leader Robert Reeves said, referring to the school group watching from the gallery.
While Reeves said he asked all Democratic caucus members to attend, he declined to criticize those who were absent or did not vote. The Chatham County Democrat told reporters that revoking the permit could allow domestic abusers and the mentally ill to obtain guns.
The enacted bill would allow guns to be placed on certain school properties where religious services are held, effective December 1.
In 2021, Cooper successfully blocked standalone versions of the pistol permit repeal and another provision allowing people with concealed weapons to be carried openly or under clothing in houses of worship where private or charter schools also meet. At the time, the Democrats held enough seats to block any override attempt if they stayed united.
Guns will not be allowed on campus during school hours or when students are present for extracurricular activities, and houses of worship may be fenced off by posting signs.
After trying for years to pass the pistol permit repeal, gun-rights advocates celebrated the override.
“Second Amendment supporters made history today,” said Paul Vallone, executive director of Grass Roots North Carolina, which campaigned last year for candidates to help a Republican majority override Cooper’s gun-related veto.
Gun-control advocates lamented the override, saying that eliminating handgun permits would put more lives at risk in the nation’s ninth-largest state.
“We will wake up five or 10 years from now and see that our gun homicide and gun suicide rates have increased,” Becky Sertas with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence said in a news release.