The North Carolina House passed legislation to repeal the state’s handgun permit requirement, sending it to Gov. Roy Cooper (D) Wednesday via a near veto-proof majority.
The Associated Press reported that the House passed the legislation by a vote of 70-44, which means every Republican present voted for it and three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with the GOP.
The legislation ends the requirement that would-be handgun purchasers first obtain a permit from their local sheriff.
Cooper blocked a previous attempt to repeal the permit requirement in 2021, but Republicans have made strong gains in the state legislature since then and they are but one seat away from supermajority, veto-proof, status.
The News & Observer noted the handgun permit repeal was a part of a larger package of gun bills passed in a contentious environment in which Democrat lawmakers felt ostracized.
NC House Minority Leader Robert Reives (D), said, “…I hope folks recognize, at some level, there’s got to be recognition there are other people in the room. And we can choose not to, don’t have to, because under our North Carolina statutes, if you’re in the front of this body, you can do whatever the heck you want. But I think it would be good, going forward, for us to really have conversations about getting heard.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.