If there’s one thing that gun-ban proponents really seem to hate, it is constitutional, or “permitless” carry. They like to describe such laws as “expanding Second Amendment rights” or “letting anyone carry a dangerous weapon.”
In fact, those descriptions couldn’t be further from the truth. What state legislatures that pass constitutional carry laws are really doing is deregulating the process of carrying a firearm for self-defense.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. It has further ruled that individual right includes the right to carry a firearm outside the home for self-defense. Thus, constitutional carry laws simply return the process of carrying a firearm for self-defense back to the way it was at the founding of our nation.
Now, North Carolina lawmakers are seeking to make the Tar Heel State the latest to end the process of making lawful gun owners jump through government hoops and pay a fee to practice this Second Amendment-protected right.
According to a report at wcnc.com, Republicans in the North Carolina Senate have introduced a measure deregulating carry in that state. Of course, rather than saying that, wcnc.com, in typical “mainstream” media parlance, described the law as one that “would allow almost anyone 18 or older to carry a concealed handgun in public without having to acquire a concealed carry permit.”
In truth, states don’t need to “allow” carry since it’s protected by the Second Amendment. But I digress.
Senate Bill 50 is being called “Freedom To Carry NC,” and would do away with the state’s permit requirement. If passed, North Carolina would be the 30th state to have such a law on the books.
According to the wcnc.com report, Senate Leader Phil Berger killed a similar proposal back in 2023, but this time around is one of the sponsors of the measure.
“The General Assembly has made incredible strides to defend the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians,” Berger’s office wrote. “There is still more we can do though.”
Of course, naysayers, including law enforcement organizations, are already going out of their way to denounce the proposal.
“If you don’t need the training, you don’t need to pay the expense to get the background check to earn a CCW permit, then it’s just anybody can do it,” Daniel Redford, the president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police told the news station.
Apparently, Redford and others opposing the bill haven’t noticed that none of the other states passing such legislation have had a corresponding increase in violent crime. That’s despite law enforcement organizations in many of those states also voicing opposition to the legislation.
Under the legislation, if passed, North Carolina residents could continue getting a concealed carry permit, if they wish, through the current process. In other states passing constitutional carry laws, many have done just that in order to take advantage of already existing reciprocal agreements between states.
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