Yesterday, the North Carolina State Senate passed House Bill 562, the NRA-backed omnibus pro-gun reform bill on a bipartisan vote of 40-9. The bill now heads to Governor Pat McCrory for his expected signature.
As previously reported, 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 (CHP) 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 CHP applicants.
- 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.
Please contact Governor Pat McCrory and urge him to sign this important measure into law. Please also contact your state Senator and thank her or him for voting for pro-gun HB 562, or express your disappointment if he or she voted against this bill that had virtually no stated opposition.
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