NC Senate passes repeal of pistol permit rules. Critics fear new background check loopholes

North Carolinians came one step close to no longer needing local sheriffs’ permission to buy a handgun, after the Senate voted Thursday to repeal the state's pistol permit law.

After a 29-19 party-line vote, the bill now goes to the state House, where Republicans have proposed a similar bill.

Existing laws give authorities wide latitude, which can result in inconsistent — even racist — application, supporters have said. "A sheriff can deny someone the right to purchase a handgun if there's an issue with their 'moral character' ... an arbitrary decision by the sheriff," said Lumberton Republican Sen. Danny Britt, the lead sponsor of the bill to repeal that rule.

A press release from Senate Republicans after the vote also noted that many other GOP-controlled states have already gotten rid of pistol permits.

“North Carolina is the only state in the South that has retained this duplicative law,” they wrote.

At one point during Thursday’s debate, Charlotte Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus' voiced cracked as she was overcome with emotion about the bill. "We are tired of living this way, with the constant threat of gun violence and politicians doing nothing about it," she said.

The bill would create a loophole allowing people to buy pistols without a background check. Senate Republicans dismissed concerns and voted down multiple amendments to the gun bill that Democrats suggested.

Two of those amendments would've mandated universal background checks and eliminated the background check loophole for private sales that this bill will create. Another would've required people to keep their guns locked up if they live with children or other people who are banned from carrying firearms. Another would’ve created a "red flag" system for judges to temporarily take weapons away from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

Republicans shot down all four of those proposals without explanation.

"Innocent people are routinely killed by gun violence, and this bill will make that more likely," Marcus said. "It's a dangerous, open invitation to anyone in North Carolina who cannot pass the current background check to easily and legally buy a handgun. Why in the world would we want to invite that kind of danger into our state?"

Britt pointedly asked Marcus a question after her speech: What bills has she filed during this session to address gun violence?

Marcus said she's working on some ideas but hasn't filed anything yet. Lawmakers have until April to file bills. After Britt's remarks about her lack of action, Marcus proposed one of the background-check amendments. Republicans then shot it down.

Britt said he expected Democrats to accuse Republicans of “making the community unsafe” but that he thought their arguments were lacking.

"These pistol permits that we’re repealing, for private sales and public sales — the ones for private sales is a very, very small percentage of our community,” Britt said. “The ones for public sales through [licensed dealers], there’s a very thorough NICS check.”

NICS is the federal background check system. Domestic violence advocates also have concerns about dropping pistol permits, since NICS doesn’t flag many domestic violence convictions from North Carolina.

Federal law prohibits felons from having guns, as well as people with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. But the NICS database can’t flag many of those cases in North Carolina, attorney John Aldridge said, because North Carolina doesn't have a specific domestic violence crime.

Pistol permits are therefore the only way to stop most domestic abusers from getting guns, supporters say, since local sheriffs can still tell if a crime was related to domestic violence.

Senate Republicans didn't address that concern, although House Republicans have suggested they might.

The House has a similar bill to repeal the pistol permit, but it would also create a new crime of domestic violence. Advocates for victims say that doing so would at least stop future abusers from getting guns, but it still wouldn't stop abusers who already have a record.

House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters Thursday that his chamber’s version of the bill might move next week. It had been scheduled for a vote this week but was pulled off the calendar at the last minute.

Since federal background checks aren’t required for private sales, like at gun shows, pistol permits are the only check. Eliminating pistol permit rules means people who would normally fail a background check can buy a pistol that way, with no questions asked.

Britt acknowledged that’s true but said private sales are a small percentage of all gun sales, so Republican lawmakers aren’t concerned about creating that loophole.

The author of the Missouri study said it’s why the state’s murder rate grew after pistol permits ended.

“Because many perpetrators of homicide have backgrounds that would prohibit them from possessing firearms under federal law, they seek out private dealers to acquire their weapons," John Hopkins professor Jon Vernick, the author of that study, wrote when it was published in 2014.

In addition to repealing the pistol permit rules, the bill the Senate passed Thursday would also kick off a two-year educational campaign about safe gun storage and suicide awareness. It doesn’t require safe storage of guns, like one of the failed Democratic amendments Thursday had proposed.

The Senate gun bill would also allow people to also carry concealed weapons to religious services held on private school property, a proposal the state House also approved Wednesday with some bipartisan support.

Other gun measures have also been advancing. But by far the most controversial has been the pistol permit repeal.

Since the early 20th century, a sheriff-approved permit has been required to buy a pistol in North Carolina. Republicans call it a racist Jim Crow relic, meant to stop Black people from protecting themselves, that needs to be scrubbed from state law. Democratic lawmakers and activists say they don’t buy that argument, noting how Republican lawmakers have gone to court numerous times in recent years to defend laws passed with racially discriminatory intent.

The state Sheriffs' Association has supported the bill since the last legislative session. It passed the Republican-controlled legislature then, but failed to become law after Cooper vetoed it.

Republicans won more seats in the 2022 elections, making it more likely that they can override Cooper's vetoes this year.