The North Carolina Senate will consider a bill that would allow state residents with concealed carry permits to legally carry guns at places of worship that share property with private schools.
It is legal for licensed handgun owners to carry in places of worship, but House Bill 134 would expand the right.
Concealed carry permit holders would be able to protect themselves during worship but not during school activities or other activities involving minors. It would not apply to public K-12 schools or on properties that ban guns.
The bill cleared the House, 72-44, last week and is assigned to the Committee On Rules and Operations of the Senate.
“We have real instances of evil coming into our churches to attack people of faith,” said Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, who co-sponsored the bill. “Right now, concealed carry holders can carry in places of worship if it is authorized by the church. However, we have a group of churches that do not have that option because of their extended mission to help people in need by providing education opportunities.”
During debate over the bill last week, proponents recalled deadly attacks on Texas and South Carolina churches.
Jack Wilson, a firearm instructor, fatally shot a gunman, Keith Thomas Kinnunen, in 2019 after Kinnunen killed two churchgoers at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. In 2015, Dylann Roof killed nine churchgoers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
The North Carolina Council of Churches has sent a letter to members of the Senate opposing the bill. It was signed by 132 church leaders across the state. They said it could create more tragedies at churches, arguing it could lead to accidents and “chaotic shootouts.”
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a bill last year with a similar provision, and the General Assembly’s attempt to override the veto failed.
“This bill allows guns on school property, which threatens the safety of students and teachers,” Cooper wrote in his veto message on the 2020 bill.
A Senate bill with the provision cleared the Senate, 31-18, on March 1 but has not been reviewed by the House.
HB 134 also would allow concealed handgun permit holders who are employed by a law enforcement agency but are not sworn officers to carry a handgun into a law enforcement agency in certain instances. It would waive the firearm safety and training course requirement for concealed handgun permit holders who renew within 60 days, in certain circumstances. It also would allow emergency medical services personnel to carry weapons while on duty and in specific situations, including at schools, the state Capitol and courthouses.
The bill must be approved by the Senate before being sent to Cooper for final approval.
