(Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor)
A day after it was approved in the Senate Judiciary Committee, members of the North Carolina Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday swiftly approved a bill to allow North Carolinians 18 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. The bill, which has the backing of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, now moves to the Senate floor, where it is expected to pass.
The Senate committee action came on the same day members of the House Judiciary 2 committee advanced a similar proposal. House Bill 5 now advances to the House Rules Committee.
Senators tout measure as validating constitutional rights, discount safety concerns
One of the bill’s three main co-sponsors, Senator Danny Britt (R-Cumberland), described the proposal as little more than a modest adjustment to state law, which he noted, already allows the open carry of firearms without a permit. He said the measure simply puts North Carolina law in line with 29 other states and is designed to aid “law abiding citizens” and validate the “constitutional right” Americans enjoy under the Second Amendment.
A trio of speakers from the groups Grassroots North Carolina and the National Rifle Association echoed Britt’s explanation.
In approving the measure on a voice vote, committee members discounted the passionate pleas lodged by a handful of citizens who begged lawmakers not to compound the state’s gun violence and youth suicides crises, as well as a pair of lawmakers who expressed concern about doing away with the mandate of an eight-hour training course that all North Carolinians must currently undergo in order obtain a “concealed carry” permit.
Senator Paul Lowe, Jr. (D-Forsyth) told Britt that while he was not opposed to people carrying concealed weapons, he felt strongly that education in the proper handling and use of weapons remains essential. Britt responded that the currently mandated eight-hour training course provides only minimal education and was not worth the time, since it takes “years” to develop the skills for properly handling a firearm. He added that since only law-abiding citizens comply with the current permit system, the risks with eliminating it would be minimal.
Opposition speakers included a Durham-based pediatric nurse who told committee members about the fear she experiences each day for her husband — an emergency room physician who is required to perform CPR on patients regularly, not knowing whether they have a concealed weapon hidden on their bodies that could fire inadvertently. Bill supporters did not attempt to respond to the nurse’s testimony and several stared down at their desks while she delivered her remarks.
At one point during the proceedings, Sen. Ralph Hise, a western North Carolina Republican and bill supporter, asked Britt whether there were any other constitutional rights that North Carolinians enjoy in which they are required by law to receive state provided educational information prior to exercising it.
While Britt replied that he knew of no other examples, Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) quickly spoke up to observe that there is at least one such right: a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Current North Carolina law requires all women seeking abortion care to be provided with information drafted by abortion opponents about the procedure before their care provider can proceed. Neither Britt nor Hise responded to Mayfield’s observation.
House committee shuts down amendments, advances bill
Republicans pushed the “NC Constitutional Carry Act” sponsored by Reps. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort, dare, Hyde, Pamlico), Jay Adams (R-Catawba), Ben Moss (R-Moore, Richmond), and Brian Echevarria (R-Cabarrus) through the House Judiciary 2 Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
It’s a similar bill to SB 50. Unlike its Senate counterpart, HB 5 authorizes elected officials in the state to carry a concealed firearm “while performing their official duties if the official has a concealed handgun permit.”
“We’re trying to allow people to exercise their rights, to defend themselves, to defend their families in all situations,” Kidwell said.
The panel declined to adopt two amendments proposed by Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover). One would raise the age minimum to carry a concealed handgun from 18 to 21.
The other would retain the obligation obtain a concealed carry permit for those who have been convicted of an impaired driving offense.
“If a person has demonstrated that they don’t have the judgment to stay out from behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol [and] can somehow now acquire a firearm and have that not be a disqualifier, to be, it’s just a grave disservice,” Butler said.
Rep. Ya Liu (D-Wake) said as the mother of three kids, two of whom are teenagers, she wouldn’t trust them or their friends to have access to guns. She thinks they’re too young.
“As parents, we are the people who should protect them,” Liu said. “We should make it safer for them to learn and to play in our community, not make it more dangerous.”
Each of the five witnesses who attended the hearing spoke out against the bill.
The speakers ranged from a college student to leaders in gun violence prevention groups to a military veteran.
Gerald Gibbons said he served 20 years in the Air Force, where he had to pass comprehensive training before ever carrying a firearm.
This includes the basics of gun safety, such as treating every weapon as if it’s loaded and ensuring its safe storage. HB 5, however, would eliminate the training and other safeguards for civilians, he said.
“Last time I spoke before this committee, I had seven family members who had died from gun violence. That number now is eight,” Gibbons told the committee. “I have lost eight family members to gun violence. I can’t lose any more.”