North Carolina: NRA-Supported Omnibus Bill Advancing in Senate

Please urge your state Senator to act on HB 562 this session!

As previously reported, time may be running out for the North Carolina Senate to take action on House Bill 562.  It would appear, however, that this critical legislative reform is now poised to move.  Several pro-gun Republican Senators have informed NRA that HB 562 will begin to move this week.   

This legislation makes several important changes to North Carolina gun laws, including:

• Requiring the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) of a jurisdiction to certify the transfer or making of a firearm in a timely manner.
• Clarifying 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.
• Establishing an affirmative defense for an individual in certain situations where he or she uses a firearm on prohibited school property "in response to a threatening situation in which deadly force was justified..."
• Improving the existing Range Protection Law, which would help to protect established shooting ranges from new local ordinances designed to shut them down.
• Improving the issuing process and removing unnecessary disqualifiers for Concealed Handgun Permits (CHP).
• Lowering the penalty for carrying a firearm with a valid CHP on posted property from a misdemeanor to an infraction.
• Removing the prohibition on using a lawfully possessed short barreled rifle for hunting
• Strengthening North Carolina’s preemption statute.

Again, please contact your state Senator and urge her or him to continue to work with NRA to pass this critical pro-gun legislation this session.