GRNC.

Grass Roots North Carolina and gun rights supporters made history today. Senate Bill 41 cleared its final hurdle and will become law after both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto. SB 41 is the first override of a Cooper veto since 2018 and the first-ever override of a vetoed gun bill in North Carolina.

SB 41 repeals North Carolina’s Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit law and closes the loophole under which concealed carry has been prohibited in churches which sponsor schools, giving those churches the same protections that most NC churches have enjoyed since 1995.

Yesterday, SB 41 cleared the NC Senate in a party line vote of 30-19, giving Republicans the expected 6/10 supermajority to override Cooper’s veto.

The NC House then fast-tracked the bill, taking it up as its first order of business this morning. Clearly, Speaker Tim Moore was in no mood to permit grandstanding by anti-gun Democrats as Rules Chair Rep. Destin Hall immediately offered a motion to “move the previous question,” a procedural maneuver that closes all debate and forces an immediate vote on the bill. With all House Republicans voting for the bill, SB 41 passed the House by a vote of 71-45, narrowly exceeding the necessary 6/10 supermajority.

It should be noted that Rep. Michael Wray (D- Halifax, Northampton, Warren), who was a co-sponsor of a similar bill and had voted for SB 41 the first time, apparently did not vote. It is not clear whether that was due to a deal with Republicans, or whether he sold out Second Amendment supporters. However, Rep. Shelly Willingham (D-Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin), who voted for SB 41 last time, reneged on his public statement that he would not change his position on the override. By voting “no” on the SB 41 override, he clearly betrayed gun rights supporters. Also unknown as of this writing is whether the other three Democrats who did not vote were present in the chamber.

AP reports it this way.

Moore used parliamentary maneuvers Wednesday to block floor debate before the vote, causing frustration among Democrats.

Cooper, who is term-limited from seeking reelection next year, criticized the the move by House leadership, saying in a tweet that arguments to uphold his veto would have been “too compelling for them to hear.”

In North Carolina, supposedly free men must turn over their information to the CLEO (Chief Law Enforcement Officer) for approval to purchase a handgun.  The investigation (and information you must turn over) to obtain a concealed handgun permit includes: a full background check, fingerprints, and full medical records.  They contact area hospitals to ensure you haven’t had admissions for mental health or substance abuse.

The investigation if you don’t have a concealed handgun permit is substantially the same as with one, it’s just that you must obtain a permit for every handgun purchase, with a fee to the county each time you apply.  The permitting scheme for a single purchase apparently goes a bit quicker than a concealed handgun permit, but both can take very long (months, and in some cases almost years when the CLEO claims to be “backed up” like the communist Sheriff of Mecklenburg County).

It’s quite the tax collecting scheme, to be sure.

That’s all done away with now.  It’s gone.  Effective immediately.

Finally.

Without that albatross hanging on us, and with both states now being legal to openly carry, NC and SC gun laws are similar.  Here’s an exception: Open carry is legal in NC without a permit, and in SC, one needs his permit.  Also in SC, the legislature is considering permitless carry.

In neither state, as of today, must a CLEO approve a gun purchase.

Goober Roy Cooper can suck on it.