The North Carolina House has approved a bill that would allow North Carolina residents to purchase a handgun without a permit and lift certain restrictions on carrying firearms in public.
House Bill 937 would also close public records of those with concealed handgun permits from public view–information that is currently public.
House Bill 937 expands the list of places where handguns can be legally taken to include private schools, parades and parks.
Aside from expanding personal gun liberties, the bill would permit court officials and judges with concealed handgun permits to bring their firearms into a courthouse. Currently, this only applies to district attorneys.
Supporter of the bill, N.C. State Rifle Team coach Keith Miller, argued that the bill would make college campuses safer.
“One thing that bothers me is the attitude by some that campus security officers are the only ones capable of providing for our safety,” Miller said. “Ultimately we are all responsible for our own individual safety. Many recent events illustrate that campus security officers, no matter how well trained, are mainly reactionary and don’t really prevent most incidents.”
Additionally, Miller said allowing students to store handguns in their cars would make them safer.
“As it is now, there are people I know that live away from campus in areas where safety is a big concern,” Miller said. “Now, in order to be legal on campus, they can’t even travel to and from these areas with their handguns. This bill would at least allow that, even though I think it should go further.”
According to Miller, the N.C. State Rifle Team would not be affected by the bill directly because they are legally allowed to have rifles on campus since rifling is a sanctioned NCAA sport.
In March, the team claimed its seventh league title in program history.
Opponents of the bill have argued that there is little evidence that the bill would make North Carolina residents safer.
Gaily Neely of the group North Carolina Against Gun Violence said fewer than three out of every 100 North Carolinians have concealed-carry permits, adding that there is not enough evidence to support that handguns increase safety.
Currently, about 30 states do not require a permit to purchase a handgun, and five states have provisions that allow concealed weapons on college campuses. These states are Wisconsin, Utah, Mississippi, Colorado, and Oregon. However, House Bill 937 would still require a permit for concealed handguns in North Carolina.
The N.C. Senate and House are currently locked in a debate over details of the bill, leaving the future of the bill uncertain. The Senate version of the bill proposes a criminal background check for handgun purchases from licensed dealers while the House version would eliminate pistol purchase permits entirely.
“Overall, I think it’s a good step forward,” Miller said. “The bill is not perfect, but it does a reasonable job of improving several aspects of North Carolina’s concealed handgun law that are lacking, as well as addressing some general firearm regulations that need improving.
