NC Newsline—A bill allowing people to carry concealed handguns without permits is dangerous, Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said Tuesday, as it would increase gun violence and make the jobs of law enforcement officers harder.
Birkhead spoke at a news conference with gun control advocates. They gathered in Raleigh as part of their efforts to convince House members to uphold Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill that would make it easier to carry concealed handguns in public.
Under current law, only people 21 and older can carry a concealed weapon, and only after completing an approved firearms safety course and criminal background check.
Under Senate Bill 50, anyone 18 and older who can legally carry a gun could carry it concealed without a permit or safety training.
Birkhead said that would make working in law enforcement more dangerous.
Permitless carry “makes our jobs more difficult – to put a gun in the hand of someone who’s not trained, who’s 18 years of age – so we have to approach every encounter as if there’s a weapon, because we just don’t know,” Birkhead said. “It increases the risk of someone being harmed in that encounter, whether it’s the officer, the deputy, or the citizen. That to me is unacceptable.”
The North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund has a list of studies that show firearm homicide rates and suicide rates increased in states that loosened concealed weapon permitting laws or adopted permitless concealed carry, and that rates of officer-involved shootings of civilians increased more than expected in states with permitless concealed carry laws.
The legislature passed the bill last year, and the state Senate has already overridden Stein’s veto along party lines. Action now rests in the state House. Both the House and Senate must vote with three-fifths majorities to cancel a veto and make a bill law.
When the House passed the bill last June, two Republicans joined all Democrats in rejecting it. Chances for an override in the House may be in flux as two of three House Democrats who lost their primaries last year have left the party and said they are essentially free agents.
However, one of those former Democrats, Rep. Nasif Majeed of Mecklenburg County, said Tuesday that, at this point, he would continue to oppose permitless concealed carry. “This is going to be coming up, and in all probabilities, I might not see any changes at this time,” he said.
Rep. Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg, who left the Democratic Party last week, would not say Tuesday how she would vote on overrides.
With a veto override, North Carolina would become the 30th state to allow what proponents call “constitutional carry,” NC Newsline has reported.
Sen. Danny Britt (R-Robeson), one of the bill’s primary sponsors, and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort), a vocal House supporter, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
But speaking for the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, Britt said, “We believe that our constitution is clear that law-abiding citizens should be allowed to constitutionally carry. We believe they should be able to constitutionally carry without having to jump through the hoops that you do for a concealed carry permit.”
At Tuesday’s news conference, Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, said allowing teenagers to carry hidden weapons is “shameful.”
Requiring concealed weapons permits is “common sense,” she said.
“Our lives are at risk,” she said. “Other states that have eliminated concealed carry permits have seen 27% increases in gun homicides. We can’t let that happen here, too.”
