Second Amendment activists from Grassroots NC are at the North Carolina General Assembly in Raleigh today for a literature drop and outreach to lawmakers, as they try to advance a permitless carry bill this session. Though the GOP lost its supermajority status in the state House by a single seat last November, which will make getting a veto-proof majority a little tougher, gun owners did get some good news this week when a key member of the state Senate signaled his support for the legislation.

Senate Bill 50, titled “Freedom to Carry NC,” would allow anyone who is a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years of age, and who isn’t otherwise prohibited by law, to carry a concealed handgun in the state — without having to obtain a permit from their local sheriff’s office, as is currently required. It follows similar legislation filed by Rep. Keith Kidwell in the House last week.

In a statement, bill sponsors Sens. Danny Britt, Warren Daniel and Eddie Settle said that the General Assembly “has made incredible strides to defend the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians,” but added that “there is still more we can do.”

“We need to join the majority of states and recognize that law-abiding citizens should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights without getting permission from the government,” Britt, Daniel and Settle said.

Berger’s support is notable, given that Grassroots NC head Paul Valone has blamed the Senate leader for the legislature’s unwillingness to adopt a permitless carry bill over the past couple of years. 

In 2023, after the legislature repealed the state’s permit-to-purchase scheme, a relic of the Jim Crow era, Berger told reporters he didn’t know “if there’s a need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns and people’s Second Amendment rights.” Berger continued to sit on the fence last year as well, despite efforts by Grassroots NC and other 2A groups to advance permitless carry, so his co-sponsoring of SB 50 is a positive sign. 

Valone told the Raleigh News & Observer that he and other Grassroots NC member “thank Senator Berger for reconsidering his reluctance to pass a constitutional carry bill in the last session,” adding that he looks forward “to working with Republicans in the General Assembly to get the bill to the governor’s desk.”

Assuming SB 50 (or its House counterpart introduced by Rep. Keith Kidwell) does reach the governor’s desk, Josh Stein is a lock to veto the measure. The Democrat was a gun control stalwart while serving as the North Carolina Attorney General, and has said nothing to indicate a scintilla of support for permitless carry since he was elected governor last November. Still, when I spoke to Valone on Cam & Co this week, he indicated that overriding the governor’s anticipated veto is very much a possibility, either by attracting at least one House Democrat to vote in favor of the legislation, or at least convincing one or more Democrat lawmakers to stay away during the override session, which would temporarily restore the Republicans’ veto-proof majority. 

In order for either of those possibilities to become reality, gun owners in North Carolina need to get behind the push for permitless carry and let their lawmakers know where they stand. The initial passage of SB 50 and its House counterpart will be relatively easy, but getting enough votes to override Stein’s objections is going to take some effort.