North Carolina: NRA-Backed Omnibus Bill Before Appropriations Committee Next Week

The NRA-backed Second Amendment Affirmation Act, House Bill 562, is scheduled to be heard by the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday, May 6, at 8:30 AM.

As previously reported, HB 562 is a comprehensive reform bill that would make a number of important pro-gun modifications.  Although it was unfortunately amended in committee to remove certain pro-gun measures, HB 562 still has our support and is in critical need of yours as well. If passed, HB 562 would, among other things, do the following:

• Require chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) of a jurisdiction to certify the transfer or making of a firearm in a timely manner. (This measure had been removed in a previous version, but has been returned.)
  
  
• Clarify the exemption for keeping a firearm in a vehicle by a person with a valid Concealed Handgun Permit while the vehicle is on the property of a public school.
  
  
• Repeal the requirement that law-abiding citizens must obtain a permit from their local sheriff before acquiring a handgun.  (This measure had been removed in a previous version, but has been returned.)
  
  
• Improve the existing Range Protection Law, which would help to protect shooting ranges from new local ordinances designed to shut them down.
  
  
• Improve the issuing process and remove unnecessary disqualifiers for Concealed Handgun Permits.
  
  
• Remove the prohibition on using a lawfully possessed short barreled rifle for hunting.
  
  
• Prohibit doctors from asking questions about firearm ownership on any written
  questionnaire.
  
  
• Strengthen North Carolina’s preemption statute.

Please contact your state Representative, especially if he or she is a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, and urge her or him to support HB 562, and to work with NRA to ensure passage of the strongest pro-gun package possible.  If you are able to attend the hearing, it will be held in Room 643 (on the sixth floor) of the Legislative Office Building, which is located at 300 N. Salisbury Street in Raleigh.  For information on the Legislative Complex, including directions and parking opportunities, click here.