Latest news with #D-Wake
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill allowing anyone 18 or older to conceal carry passes NC House, headed to governor
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Despite two Republican lawmakers siding with Democrats in opposition, a bill allowing people as young as 18 to carry a gun without a permit in the state, is headed to the Governor's office. Republican sponsors of the bill say it only enshrines the right to carry a weapon to law-abiding citizens. Rep. Jay Adams (R-Catawba) said in defense of the bill, ' States have done this…we're close to 50% of the country…this is really not going to affect criminal behavior…this is going to benefit law abiding citizens.' Democrats opposed the bill, saying it'll only lead to more gun violence and put guns into the hands of teenagers who aren't old enough to understand the true dangers of guns. 'Studies have shown that permit-less concealed carry increases violence and death,' Rep. Phil Rubin (D-Wake) said. The final vote came after a second reading in which 54 voted in favor and 48 voted against. The bill now heads to Gov. Josh Stein's desk, where he can sign it into law or veto the bill. If Stein vetoes SB50, House Republicans would need every single Republican and one Democrat to vote to override that veto. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislators advocate for bill banning ghost guns, untraceable firearms
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday considered a federal firearm regulation aimed at reining in ghost guns, untraceable, unregulated weapons made from kits. In this photo, a ghost gun is displayed before the start of an event about gun violence in the Rose Garden of the White House April 11, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by) Lawmakers and community members held a press conference Tuesday morning to back legislation prohibiting ghost guns and other untraceable weapons. Sen. Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake) organized the event to garner support for Senate Bill 409: 'Ban Ghost Guns & Undetectable Firearms.' This measure would prohibit the sale and possession of ghost guns, which are firearms without a unique serial number. Undetectable firearms can be purchased in separate components and assembled at home, or manufactured through a 3D printing process. Chaudhuri filed the bill in March, when it was initially introduced to the legislature and assigned to the Senate Rules Committee. The bill has not moved since then. 'At the time when the General Assembly is set on passing permitless concealed carry bills… we're ringing the alarm bell about the need to address a real 21st century firearms threat: ghost guns,' Chaudhuri said. Senate Bill 50, 'Freedom to Carry NC,' would remove the permit process for individuals to carry concealed firearms. This legislation will be heard in the House Rules Committee Tuesday afternoon. Sen. Val Applewhite (D-Cumberland) collaborated with Chaudhuri on SB 409. She emphasized that the measure is not about infringing on gun ownership. 'This is about untraceable, unserialized weapons, often assembled in basements or garages that are increasingly finding their way into the hands of people with no intention of using them responsibly,' Applewhite said. 'These are weapons with no paper trail, no accountability, and no way for law enforcement to do their jobs effectively.' Courtney Banks-McLaughlin, a Fayetteville city council member and appointed member of the governor's crime commission, spoke at the conference as a grieving parent. Banks-McLaughlin lost her 15-year-old daughter, Coryonna Treasure Young, to a ghost gun. This week, Young would've graduated high school with her peers with her family cheering her on, Banks-McLaughlin said. She had dreams of joining the Air Force and becoming a pilot. 'No parent should have to stand right where I'm standing, no community should have to grieve a child who has a name that will never be called again at a dinner table,' Banks-McLaughlin said.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NC Senate panel approves bill expanding ICE detention requirements for sheriffs
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service Processing Center in El Centro, Calif. (Stock photo by) The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of a bill Wednesday that would expand state requirements for sheriffs to detain undocumented immigrants for retrieval by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The bill, known as House Bill 318 or 'the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act,' passed the North Carolina House in April and is now set for a vote by the Senate Rules Committee Thursday morning. It represents a continuation of the detention requirements passed in November under House Bill 10. Rep. Carson Smith (R-Pender), a former sheriff, described the bill as an attempt to 'clarify and make a few changes' to the law after seeing it in effect. HB 318 would expand the requirement for verifying immigration status from a specific set of felonies to all felonies as well as any impaired driving offenses. It also modifies the requirements for releasing individuals in custody under ICE detention orders. Under the proposed law, a judge or magistrate would inquire into the immigration status of any defendant charged with a felony or impaired driving offense at their pretrial release hearing. If their status cannot be determined, they would be held for an additional two hours after an inquiry to ICE on whether they are subject to any detention orders. 'If an ICE detainer and warrant is received, they're taken to the judicial official, probably the magistrate, to determine that they are the person that is subject to that detainer and that administrative warrant,' Smith said. 'If they are, they will be held up to 48 hours after whatever point they would otherwise be released for ICE to come pick them up.' Democrats and members of the public spoke out against the bill, arguing that it damages rather than furthers public safety. Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) said she believes the requirements violate the U.S. Constitution, given that they would require sheriffs to carry out the ICE hold even when the individual in question has been exonerated or had their charges dismissed. 'We're talking about keeping people where the state has no constitutional interest in holding them,' Grafstein said. Under the terms of the existing law, sheriffs must only hold individuals in custody for 48 hours after the ICE detention order is received. The new proposal would require a 48-hour hold beginning when they would otherwise be released from custody. Sen. Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said the proposal also violates the rights of crime victims, preventing them from getting justice if the offender is subject to deportation. 'As a victim myself, I wanted my day in court to testify against my offender, which I had the ability to do,' Batch said. 'This new change would mean that if he were here and there was an ICE detainer, he would then be deported prior to the time of which I would have my day in court.' Mary Ross, an activist with Democracy Out Loud who spoke during the public comment period, said deporting someone based only on allegations of a crime is 'a really cruel way to treat people.' 'They're people who are our neighbors, and most of whom are working hard, doing great work with us,' Ross said. 'I just object to, essentially, judge and jury — the police officer arrests somebody and, boom, they're a convicted criminal and a prisoner and they're gone.' The bill passed the Judiciary Committee hours before another bill on immigration, Senate Bill 153, passed the House. That measure, the 'North Carolina Border Protection Act,' now heads to Gov. Josh Stein's desk for his consideration. In a press release Wednesday, House Republicans announced an ad campaign targeting four Democratic lawmakers who voted against one or both bills.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hundreds of bills never stood a chance this legislative session. They had one thing in common.
Democratic leader Robert Reives notes that more than 700 Democratic-sponsored bills never received a hearing this session. (Photo: NCGA screengrab) North Carolina House and Senate Democrats held a funeral of sorts Tuesday, highlighting the hundreds of bills they introduced this session that were then directed to the Rules Committees of the two houses, the proverbial legislative graveyard. Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said Democrats introduced over 700 bills this session that were killed in committee. 'Common sense, community focused solutions to our state's biggest problems — and they went nowhere,' Batch said. 'Republicans didn't debate or defeat these ideas. They shoved them in drawers, locked them behind doors, and they prayed every single day that the public never finds out how little they're actually doing with their tax dollars that you will send to this state to run our government.' Batch said gerrymandering has allowed Republicans, who chair the committees, to completely control which bills advance and which never see the light of day. Sen. Woodson Bradley (D-Mecklenburg) said she came to Raleigh hoping to make communities safer, only to find her ideas silenced by the majority party. 'I may be a freshman senator, but I'm also a domestic violence survivor. I'm a responsible gun owner and concealed carry holder. I'm the daughter and wife of law enforcement. I know crime. I know cops. But more important than that, less than 5% of the people in this building know what it's like to be a victim. And that's who I came here to help,' said the Mecklenburg County Democrat. Bradley said the ideas she championed were basic protections and deserved to be fully debated. 'We hear a lot from the other side about protecting families and standing with law enforcement. But if you won't even bring a bill to the table that protects survivors of abuse or helps officers prevent gun violence, what are you standing for?' Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) said that even ideas that had merit like allowing remote license renewals to ease the NC DMV backlog were dismissed, if the idea came from a Democrat. 'Democrats introduced real solutions for fixing what ails us in state government, hiring critical staff, investing in the infrastructure behind state services. But Republicans actually didn't want to fix it. They wanted to exploit the failings to support their talking-point that government doesn't work.' Senate Bill 611 would have taken an estimated one million North Carolinians out of lines at the DMV allowing them to complete their task online, said Grafstein. But Republicans kept the bill bottled up and allowed it to die rather than make the May 8 crossover deadline. 'The Republican majority would rather have people stand in line all day and get frustrated because it fits that narrative that we just need to slash more and privatize.' Rep. Lindsay Prather (D-Buncombe) said bills that would restore teacher longevity pay and establish a $17 an hour minimum salary for non-certified public school employees also failed to gain traction. Legislative leaders also dismissed both the Voucher School Accountability Act and the Voucher School Transparency Act. 'These are bills that would shine a light on private schools receiving public funds, giving more information to parents to make an informed decision, and more information to taxpayers on whether your money is actually going to provide a quality education to a North Carolina student.' Prather said decisions not to take up those bills shortchanged North Carolina's children and their parents. As a Captain in the US Army National Guard, Rep. Dante Pittman (D-Wilson) said he has learned not to surrender. He's still advocating this session for the Working Families Act (House Bill 786) that would raise the state's minimum wage, increase the stock of affordable housing and reenact the child tax credit. 'Not all hope is lost. And I would offer for them to take these good ideas and include them in the budget. Because what we're trying to do here in North Carolina is make sure that our children have the opportunity that they need and our families are secure.' The North Carolina House will begin the process of unveiling parts of its state spending plan on Thursday.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill allowing private school employees to carry concealed firearms passes NC Senate panel
Students line up as they return to school in Durham County. (File photo) The North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would allow employees and volunteers of K-12 private schools to carry concealed firearms on school property Tuesday afternoon. Senate Bill 280 would allow employees and volunteers at these schools to possess handguns and stun guns with the consent of school administrators and written notice to parents. They must hold a concealed carry permit and complete additional training before becoming eligible to possess firearms on school property. The proposal is part of a larger trend in the North Carolina legislature in which Republican lawmakers have sought to respond to the rise in school shootings by equipping adults with firearms and defensive implements. A bill with a similar approach passed the House Judiciary 2 Committee a day prior allowing schools to store tasers, pepper spray, and other 'less-than-lethal' weapons in biometric safes. A separate provision in SB 280 allows for firearms to be carried by attendees of worship services, funerals, weddings, and other religious events held at places of worship located on the grounds of private schools at the discretion of school administrators. Sen. Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson) said the bill 'balances safety with individual rights' through stringent criteria for training, permitting, and school oversight. 'This bill simply strengthens the safety in North Carolina's private schools while respecting the unique needs of our communities,' Jarvis said. 'It allows private school employees or volunteers with concealed carry permits to carry firearms on school grounds, but only with the explicit authorization of the school board and/or the administration director.' Sen. Sydney Batch (D-Wake) proposed adding a requirement that private school employees and volunteers affected by the bill be vetted against the state's Responsible Individuals List, which tracks adults implicated in the abuse and serious neglect of children. Jarvis said he would follow up with her suggestion at some point in the future. Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about the implications that other bills around concealed carry would have on these new exceptions. Sen. Terence Everitt (D-Wake) noted that the Senate passed a bill allowing permitless concealed carry in March, warning that this would undermine SB 280's reliance on permit training and safety requirements. Sen. Lisa Grafstein (D-Wake) expressed concerns about the lack of an age requirement, noting that the permitless carry bill would allow 18-year-olds to carry concealed firearms — and by extension, SB 280 could allow them to bring them into schools. Robert Ryan, an attorney with the General Assembly's Legislative Affairs Division, said that even with the existence of permitless concealed carry, this bill would still require a permit for individuals to carry weapons onto school grounds — leaving intact the training and age requirements. North Carolina would continue issuing concealed carry permits even under the March bill to maintain reciprocity with states that do not have permitless carry. Among the speakers during the public comment part of the meeting were leaders at religious private schools who urged lawmakers to pass the bill so they and their students could feel safe. 'We do everything that we can within the law to protect these precious children from danger,' said Matthew Floyd, a faculty member at Greenville Christian Academy. 'We love these children as our own and many are willing and able to be trained, you know, with rigorous training to be able to be an immediate line of defense against the horrible thought of a gunman entering the property.' Ron Baity, a pastor who founded a Wilkes County Christian private school in the 1970s, said 'every day we are horrified' at the prospect that a shooter could attack their school. 'I hear it said that innocent people could be killed if a shooter comes on the property and our staff is armed,' Baity said. 'The truth of the matter is, if we have no resistance against the individual who's armed, he can kill all of our staff, he can kill all of our students, and we have no way to protect anyone.' Amanda Lierman, a substitute teacher in Wake County with Moms Demand Action, said bringing guns into schools would only place an 'undue burden' on school staff. She was the only member of the public to speak against the bill. 'My friend and her sons experienced a shooting at their elementary school last year, when a staff administrator was shot and killed by their ex-husband,' Lierman said. 'My friend described the running students and the chaos that ensued — having more guns among that chaos would have increased the risk of more casualties.' After passing the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, SB 280 will next be heard by the Senate Rules Committee, where it can then be scheduled for a vote by the full Senate.
