NC House passes bill to allow guns at religious services held on school grounds

Republicans in the state House, along with a small number of Democrats, voted to allow people to bring guns to school campuses if they're there for church or another religious service when school isn't in session.

Posted 9:58 p.m. Feb 15, 2023 — Updated 1:11 a.m. Feb 16, 2023

Will Doran

, WRAL state government reporter

North Carolinians might soon be allowed to bring guns to church or other religious services, even if the services are held at a school.

On Wednesday the state House passed a bill that would allow people to carry concealed firearms on school grounds for religious services, with a number of caveats: It can only be a private school, not a public school. And if school is in session, or if children are on campus for other school-sponsored activities, guns would remain banned.

Supporters of the bill said it will let many gun owners feel safer. State law has allowed guns at most religious services for nearly 30 years, they said. The only exception has been for religious services that share a campus with a private school.

Supporters pointed to the growing number of mass shootings at churches, synagogues and mosques in recent years. Opponents, however, said the likely more common threat is that someone will bring their gun to the service but then accidentally leave it behind in the bathroom or somewhere else on campus, and then students will find it and potentially hurt themselves or others.

“When I look at this bill, I understand the purpose behind it,” said Charlotte Democratic Rep. Terry Brown. “I can appreciate that purpose behind it. But when I see dozens of lost guns, stolen guns, that make their way into our classrooms — into our children’s places where they should be safe — I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that now legally allows guns to come into those safe spaces.”

Every Republican voted for the bill Wednesday, as did a small number of Democrats. It now must pass in the Senate, where Republicans have also proposed a similar bill.

Numerous other gun bills are expected to move through the legislature this year. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed some in the past. But Republicans picked up more seats in the 2022 elections, raising their chances at overriding his vetoes.

Pistol permit repeal

The House also passed another gun bill, in a nearly unanimous vote, to allow probation and parole officers to carry concealed weapons off duty even without the normal training and permit.

Meanwhile in the Senate, Republican leaders spent Wednesday moving a wide-ranging gun bill through committee — including a highly contentious proposal to repeal the state’s pistol permit requirements.

In addition to that, the Senate bill would also have the same rules for concealed weapons at churches that share property with schools, and it would have the state government engage in a two-year campaign encouraging safe storage of guns, hunter safety and suicide awareness.

That safety and awareness provision has bipartisan support. But the pistol permit repeal is highly controversial.

State law requires anyone who wants to buy a handgun to first get a permit, signed by the local sheriff. Wait time varies — in smaller counties it could only take days but in some of the state’s biggest counties, local news reports show, people have had to wait two or more months for their permit application to be processed. Long wait times at the height of the pandemic even led to a lawsuit against the Wake County sheriff.

Republicans call it a commonsense measure that wouldn’t threaten public safety, while at the same time cutting through red tape for people who want to buy handguns quickly. Democrats say it will allow criminals and people with significant mental illnesses to legally buy guns by dodging the background checks that they’d normally fail.

House leaders originally planned to also vote on a pistol permit repeal Wednesday in their chamber, but pulled it off the calendar at the last minute with no explanation.

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