North Carolina push to loosen concealed carry gun law unlikely to get total GOP support

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, The News & Observer on Jun 10, 2025

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Twice this year in the North Carolina legislature, votes that typically fall along party lines have instead been upended.

First, Democrats broke with their caucus to vote for the House Republican-written budget bill.

Now, a few Republicans are also singling themselves out from the herd on a controversial bill in the General Assembly.

Senate Bill 50, called “Freedom to Carry NC,” would get rid of the law requiring permits for concealed carry of handguns in the state, though it keeps permits if needed for other states’ laws or any other reason. The current law also requires firearms safety training and for permit holders to be at least 21 years old.

It already passed the Senate along party lines, with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats against it. Now the bill is in the House, and not all Republicans agree with changing the law. At least two House Republicans oppose the bill, which would allow anyone 18 years and older to carry a concealed handgun without any training or background checks.

All House Republicans and at least one Democrat would need to support the bill to pass it into law if Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoes it.

SB 50 is scheduled to go to the floor for a vote Wednesday after a close vote in a Rules Committee hearing Tuesday afternoon, the final stop for a bill ahead of the House’s floor session. It passed Rules 12-10, along party lines except for two Republicans, Reps. Ted Davis of Wilmington and William Brisson of Dublin, voting no.

A few other Republicans left the committee meeting before the roll call vote.

Brisson told The News & Observer after the hearing that both he and his constituents disagree with the bill. He said he might catch heat from his caucus, but they’ll have to deal with it.

“My people at home are pretty much against it, I can tell you that. I wasn’t in favor of it. I can’t understand why it’s here to begin with,” Brisson said.

Davis, who represents New Hanover County, told The N&O, “I don’t see what the problem is requiring somebody, number one to get a permit, number two to access training to make sure they know what they’re doing with the gun that they’re buying.”

Brisson represents Bladen and Sampson counties. He switched parties from Democratic to Republican in 2017, telling WECT at the time that Democrats had become “so liberal.”

Asked if he would vote against the gun bill on the floor as well, Brisson said, “if I vote, I will.”

Davis said that Republicans had not yet met about the bill, but said he heard that other Republicans also oppose the bill. House Republicans usually meet ahead of floor votes.

Davis said he’ll vote against the bill if it comes to a floor vote.

Occasionally, a handful of more centrist House Democrats have broken with their caucus to vote for controversial Republican-written bills, including Reps. Shelly Willingham and Carla Cunningham, who both also serve on the Rules Committee. Willingham and Cunningham voted against SB 50 on Tuesday. However, they joined a majority of Democrats who voted for the House budget bill last month, the first time in recent history that a majority of Democrats voted for the House budget.

The gun bill also increases the amount of money paid for line-of-duty deaths and establishes a scholarship for children of killed or permanent disabled law enforcement officers, both of which were added to the bill in the Senate through amendments from Democrats.

Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican representing Hoke, Robeson and Scotland counties, said during a House Rules committee meeting that “we all have our opinions” and so he wasn’t going to “waste anybody’s time” trying to change their minds.

Britt said he has a concealed carry permit.

Davis told The N&O that he “had the same concerns when we did other bills previously, and that is, I don’t want it to be where a person just walks up to the counter and puts the money on there, and get a gun and buy some ammunition — just go out and start shooting.”

Davis said a person’s criminal record should also be taken into consideration before allowing someone to conceal carry, particularly in domestic violence situations.

Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Raleigh Democrat, said the bill would mean “there are no guardrails” because nothing is required of them “until they get caught.”

Ball also said that Stein opposes the bill.

Rep. Tim Longest, a Wake County Democrat, said that the public expects if someone is carrying a concealed weapon, they have had some training and screening. Longest quoted from polls showing a majority of North Carolinians support the current law.

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