by: Andy Stevens, LPNC
Let’s cut to the chase:
As of today, August 1st, 2025, 29 states have some form of permitless carry, commonly called “Constitutional” Carry. North Carolina does not; and it now appears, once again, that the current legislature will fail to enact it.
“What”? you ask? How can this be?
The North Carolina legislature is controlled by Republicans in both chambers. In the Senate, a veto-proof supermajority exists, and in the House, a veto-proof supermajority lacks but one vote. You might think the odds of enacting Constitutional Carry favored success, but you’d be wrong.
Let’s Get in the Trenches:
Earlier this week the legislature convened for two days of veto overrides. On Tuesday both the House and Senate met to consider their respective bills that Governor Stein had previously vetoed. There were a total of 7 House Bills and 7 Senate Bills. The Senate, with an absolute supermajority of thirty Republicans made quick work of dispatching the Governor’s vetoes, voting in unison on each one, including our bill of the day, SB50 (Permitless Carry).
Over in the House, every elected Democrat showed up to vote. This meant that for any bill to be a successful override, ALL 71 Republicans and at least ONE Democrat had to vote in favor of the override. Speaker Destin Hall was able to secure the necessary minimum of 72 or more votes on 5 of the 7 vetoed bills that originated in the House, leaving two bills in the veto “bull pen” for subsequent action.
Each chamber then sent their overridden bills to the other. The Senate, again, made quick work and cast the necessary 30 votes for each of the 5 bills the House sent them, making a total of 12 successful Senate overrides for the day.
The House Republicans, without the necessary 72 votes to include at least one Democrat vote could muster only three additional overrides, bringing the total of successful (both chamber) overrides to eight for the day.
Not bad, right? And the best was yet to come as the second day of veto overrides would take place on Wednesday.
Well, this did not turn out as well as perhaps Speaker Destin Hall had planned. First, once again, ALL 48 House Democrats showed up, eager to participate in voting. This, of course, meant that no overrides in the House would be successful unless at least one Democrat would vote with the Republicans. Not a chance of that on these remaining 6 bills, including our SB50. Worse, 4 House Republicans were absent or non-voting on this second important voting day. Now, to be kind, perhaps they knew in advance all the Democrats would be present, and, knowing that, knew no bill requiring overrides could succeed. I’m not partial to being kind. Clearly, the Republicans did not have the discipline shown by the Democrats to see the job done.
There are only a few scheduled legislative days remaining in the current year as official the session ended July 31. The next scheduled session day will be August 26. The tentative plan is to have just one per month through the end of the year. In other words, not many opportunities to get the job done.
Now For Some History:
Let’s go back to the 2023-2024 session where Constitutional Carry did not fare even as well as now. If you recall, the House ran a bill that was not as popular as this year’s version in SB50. The House bill did NOT include 18–21-year-old concealed carry and, worse in the eyes of many, contained an unpopular “training” requirement. The Senate did not run a version of Constitutional Carry at all, so everything depended upon the House bill meeting the crossover deadline in May 0f 2023. Well, lo and behold, the House J2 Committee and the House Rules Committee approved the bill on the afternoon of crossover itself and set it up for a floor vote when the House went into session. The session dragged on well into the evening and House Speaker Moore called dinnertime recess. Sometime during that recess, a decision was made to pull the bill from its floor vote and as a result constitutional carry was DOA for the remainder of the 23-24 session.
Why was the bill pulled? No one will say with certainty. Some will say it was because Senate Leader Berger previously made a statement to the effect that, after successfully repealing the Pistol Purchase Permit regimen, no additional 2nd Amendment legislation was necessary. Some will say, internal Senate research found “Constitutional Carry did not poll well”. However, the REAL answer was there was significant opposition in both the Republican House and Senate Caucuses to taking a recorded vote on Constitutional Carry.
Who is this guy telling you all this?
A fair question to ask. Those of you who get this Libertarian Pary of North Carolina publication know I’ve written an article every now and then when asked by Rob Yates to do so. Today is one of those times. For years, I was part of the GRNC (Grass Roots North Carolina) Leadership team and Board of Directors. My working Titles were Director of Legislative Affairs and Vice-President, Operations. Some might say I was GRNC President Paul Valone’s right-hand man. So, I’ve been involved in the thick of the 2A activist movement here in NC for well over a decade. I’ve done rallies and protests and regularly attended legislative committee meetings on 2A matters throughout this time. Additionally, for several years I was also the GOA (Gunowners of America) North Carolina State Representative. In January 2024 I chose to voluntarily step down from both organizations and resigned (ask me why that happened – hint: the Governor’s race). However, I’ve remained active in monitoring what goes on in North Carolina regarding 2A matters.
Why can’t we pass Constitutional Carry?
Simple, straight answer: We do not have the Republican votes in the NC House to pass it.
At the present time, there may be up to 5 individual House members who will not vote for SB50 in its current form. There is one member, dead certain, who will not vote for it. In fact, he, Rep. Ted Davis, Jr, already VOTED AGAINST IT twice. He was joined by Rep. William Brisson, who also VOTED AGAINST IT twice.
What are their objections?
There are three objections to this bill by legislators:
Objection Number 1 was the inclusion of 18-21-year-olds:
Some elected Republicans believe 18-21-year-olds are not privileged to participate in constitutional rights.
Objection Number 2 was the deletion of a mandatory training component:
Some elected Republicans believe one must be thoroughly trained to THEIR satisfaction to exercise a constitutional right.
Objection Number 3 was best defined by Democrat Representative Laura Budd during the override debate:
You can watch and listen to her here. And yes, sadly, some of those Republicans were secretly applauding her remarks.
https://x.com/i/status/1950189257269637418
What can we do now to change the course we’re on?
The good news is the 2026 elections are right around the corner. There is no better time than now to consider seeking political office as a constitution-centered Libertarian and drive these entitled Republican incumbents out of office. Filing for House and Senate District office will occur in December. Consider filing and challenging them. Let them know, enough is enough. I can tell you; some are already sweating the thoughts of Libertarian opposition on “their” ballot for “their” seat.
In the meantime, get active with your legislators. Call them, email them, visit their office in Raleigh, or catch them at an event locally. Let them know you demand they pass a constitutional carry bill. Yes, SB50 is not the “perfect” bill, but it is as good a bill as we can expect to get with the current crop of legislators. Once the statute is in place, it can always be incrementally improved.
Again, the next potential voting session will be August 26. If there’s an interest, I’ll be happy to provide more specific names, numbers, and emails to pester legislators until they do the right thing
Finally, hope springs eternal. To the many emails I’ve personally sent to legislators on this matter, one recent reply I’ll leave unnamed for now was this:
That, Ladies and Gentlemen, will happen only if you pester them enough between now and then. The Primary is March 2026, and the Legislative Short Session will begin April 21, 2026.
Thanks for reading!
If you wish to critique or comment, my email is:
-Andy Stevens
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