Grass Roots North Carolina / Forum For Firearms Education
Post Office Box 10665, Raleigh, NC 27605
877.282.0939 (Phone) 919.573.0354 (Fax) www.GRNC.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: 704.907.9206
E-mail: president@GRNC.org
Release date: March 29, 2023
Historic gun rights victory in Raleigh
Grass Roots North Carolina and gun rights supporters made history today. Senate Bill 41 cleared its final hurdle and will become law after both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly voted to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto. SB 41 is the first override of a Cooper veto since 2018 and the first-ever override of a vetoed gun bill in North Carolina.
SB 41 repeals North Carolina’s Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit law and closes the loophole under which concealed carry has been prohibited in churches which sponsor schools, giving those churches the same protections that most NC churches have enjoyed since 1995.
Yesterday, SB 41 cleared the NC Senate in a party line vote of 30-19, giving Republicans the expected 6/10 supermajority to override Cooper’s veto.
The NC House then fast-tracked the bill, taking it up as its first order of business this morning. Clearly, Speaker Tim Moore was in no mood to permit grandstanding by anti-gun Democrats as Rules Chair Rep. Destin Hall immediately offered a motion to “move the previous question,” a procedural maneuver that closes all debate and forces an immediate vote on the bill. With all House Republicans voting for the bill, SB 41 passed the House by a vote of 71-45, narrowly exceeding the necessary 6/10 supermajority.
It should be noted that Rep. Michael Wray (D- Halifax, Northampton, Warren), who was a co-sponsor of a similar bill and had voted for SB 41 the first time, apparently did not vote. It is not clear whether that was due to a deal with Republicans, or whether he sold out Second Amendment supporters. However, Rep. Shelly Willingham (D-Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin), who voted for SB 41 last time, reneged on his public statement that he would not change his position on the override. By voting “no” on the SB 41 override, he clearly betrayed gun rights supporters. Also unknown as of this writing is whether the other three Democrats who did not vote were present in the chamber.
GRNC president Paul Valone said:
“We made history today. In passing Senate Bill 41, we achieved the first override of anti-freedom Governor Roy Cooper’s many vetoes since 2018, and the first-ever override for a gun bill in North Carolina. Grass Roots North Carolina promised to deliver defeat to Cooper’s door, and we delivered on that promise.
“Second Amendment advocates owe thanks to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, Speaker Tim Moore, Rules Chair Destin Hall; sponsors Sens. Danny Britt, Warren Daniel, Jim Perry; and all of the Republican legislators who voted for and supported SB 41 and similar bills. I encourage leadership to leverage this success by joining twenty-five other states in passing constitutional carry.
“I also thank the many volunteers and supporters Grass Roots North Carolina who made this victory possible by contacting legislators and walking the halls of the legislature.”
Founded in 1994, Grass Roots North Carolina is an all-volunteer 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to preserving individual liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights with emphasis on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
####################################################################
- Press release: Churches need protection
- Cooper veto helps thousands of felons get guns
- Over-riding Governor Roy Cooper’s Veto
- Press release: Gun rights victory at NC General Assembly
- Press Release: Lies Democrats tell you
- Black advocacy groups put politics ahead of those they claim to represent
- Purchase permit repeal and church carry pass NC Senate
- NC GUN BILLS GET COMMITTEE HEARINGS
- BILL INTRODUCED TO REPEAL JIM CROW PISTOL PERMIT SYSTEM IN NORTH CAROLINA
- 5th Circuit strikes down bump stock ban
- Open letter to Speaker Moore from GRNC
- Open letter to Sen. Berger from GRNC
- Gun Group Files for Preliminary Injunction in Mecklenburg County Grass Roots North Carolina, Gun Owners of America & Mecklenburg residents file motion for preliminary injunction over obstructionism by Sheriff Garry McFadden
- Press Release: Mecklenburg County Sheriff Sued Again Over Handgun Permits
- Are fair elections still possible in the U.S.?
- Press release: Sending Budd to Senate, NC Gun Voters Bucked Other States’ ‘Red Ripple’
- NC Gun Voters Win Big
- GRNC Delivers 1+ Million Ted Budd Ads to Gun Voters
- Radio show press release: The onslaught picks up steam
- Press release: Gun group prepares second lawsuit against Mecklenburg Sheriff McFadden
- ‘WOKE’ MOB ATTACKS YOUTH GROUP OVER GUN RAFFLE
- Radio show press release: Conservative radio host & comedian Kevin Jackson
- North Carolina CHP Reciprocity Problem Solved
- What Bruen Decision & Federal Gun Control Mean To You
- Press release: Gun group to picket Tillis office