By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A bill that would allow people as young as 18 to carry a concealed handgun without a permit in North Carolina remains stalled in the General Assembly.
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The Republican-controlled North Carolina Senate overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of Senate Bill 50 last year, but an override in the Republican-controlled North Carolina House is needed for it to become law.
There are two Republican state representatives holding up the vote and without full Republican support, the North Carolina House can’t override the governor’s veto.
State representatives have until the end of the year to vote on an override.
Paul Valone, the executive director of Second Amendment advocacy group Grass Roots NC, wants the bill passed.
Valone said the bill is about giving law-abiding citizens a chance to exercise their Second Amendment rights, arguing criminals already get guns illegally, and criticism of the bill isn’t justified in his eyes.
“The idea that a prohibition against carrying without a permit is going to keep a criminal from doing exactly that is ludicrous,” he said.
Valone also wants answers about why the North Carolina House hasn’t overriden the veto.
“We are demanding that [North Carolina House] Speaker [Destin] Hall get his caucus in order and give us a recorded vote,” Valone said. “He promised he would give us a vote and we want the vote.”
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But some law enforcement leaders in the state say it’s dangerous.
Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone has applauded Stein for the veto. He expressed concerns about guns in the hands of young people.
“There are high school students who are 18 [and] going to be able to carry a gun concealed,” Stone said. “If they do it all summer, when they go back to school, they’re going to carry these guns.”
The sheriff is also worried about guns in the hands of people with little to no training, which puts law enforcement at a greater risk.
“People who take carry concealed classes know what to do when approached by law enforcement,” Stone said. “If everybody is carrying firearms, nobody knows what to do because they haven’t had training. They might reach for the weapon, they might attempt to hide the weapon, and the officer poses it as a threat.
“It’s like giving a kid a driver’s license without driver’s ed,” he said.
Stone disagrees also disagrees that preventing people from carrying guns without a permit won’t make it harder for criminals to access them.
“It’s more difficult to get the weapon when there’s not as many weapons on the street to get,” he said. “Usually, we find that the criminal has to pay twice the amount of money to obtain a firearm.”
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