Constitutional carry bill clears NC legislature, sent to governor

The North Carolina House passed the Freedom to Carry NC Act on Wednesday afternoon along party lines, sending the permitless carry legislation to the governor’s desk.

In a 59-48 vote, the General Assembly moved one step closer to making North Carolina the 30th state to adopt constitutional carry. The bill allows individuals 18 and older to carry concealed handguns without a permit.

“This bill further ensures that Carolinians can exercise their Second Amendment rights, which include both owning and carrying firearms,” said Rep. Brian Echevarria, R-Cabarrus. “The absolute language of ‘shall not be infringed’ in our Constitution is the strongest prohibition on earth against any government action that would limit this right.”

All Democrats, as well as two Republicans, Reps. William Brisson, R-Bladen, and Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, voted against the bill.

Big News From The NC House

Constitutional Carry has officially passed the NC House/Senate and will soon be on the governor’s desk! #ncpol pic.twitter.com/xJpssU3cLG

— Rep. Brenden Jones (@BrendenJonesNC) June 11, 2025

Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, praised the bill, noting it mirrors his own bill proposal that was introduced in the House earlier this year. The Senate passed its own version and sent it to the House for approval.

“This is a very good bill,” said Kidwell. “Most of you run a bill and it goes over to the Senate and they make changes and send it back,” Kidwell said. “In this particular case, the Senate just took the bill right after I wrote it, took it over there, put their name on it, and sent it back. So I do appreciate that they enjoyed that bill that much.”

Kidwell explained that the bill would allow North Carolinians to constitutionally carry a firearm without obtaining a permit from the government to exercise their God-given right to defend themselves.

Representatives debated the bill for roughly an hour, with Democrats speaking out against the bill. Democrats pointed to various statistics, such as a Stanford study that shows permitless concealed carry states face a 13-15% violent crime increase over the next decade.

Rep. Phil Rubin, D-Wake, pointed to West Virginia as the worst example, where firearm deaths surged 26% and gun homicides rose about 48% in five years, compared to 17 prior years, after repealing permit requirements.

“I know that there are profound, strong feelings on both sides of the aisle about the best approach for guns, but we don’t have to go this far,” he said. “I think this bill does not help the people that we represent because it is dangerous. It is unnecessary and it is deeply unpopular.”

Rep. Clark shared her own story of a childhood friend dying by suicide with a legal gun and another friend who was murdered. She urged lawmakers vote down the bill, arguing that the “bill goes too far.”

Countering what he called “cherry-picked” statistics, Kidwell said 83% of states with permitless carry have homicide rates below the national average, while 84% of states have lower violent crime rates than they did prior to permitless carry.

“It’s interesting information,” Kidwell said. “Where does that come from? Not some cherry-picked group. Not some organization that was already against firearms. That comes from the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To me, that’s pretty amazing. 84% of states have lower violent crime rates in 2022 than they did before they had permitless carry.”

While Senate Bill 50 now awaits Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s signature, he has suggested a veto. With Stein’s expected veto, Republican leadership would need to secure a three-fifths majority in both chambers to override—a task that was easier during the last session when both chambers held supermajorities.

Senate Republicans hold a supermajority, but House Republicans are one seat short, meaning any override effort will require unified attendance and careful vote counting, as any veto override may hinge on attendance numbers.

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