New guns laws debated in North Carolina legislative session

RALEIGH, N.C. — Just a month into the 2025-26 legislative session, North Carolina state lawmakers have already proposed multiple laws that could significantly impact how residents carry and register firearms. 

House Bill 5 and Senate Bill 50 are the leading bills. Both would allow individuals to carry a concealed firearm without obtaining a permit.

Senate Leader Phil Berger shot down a similar proposal in 2023. This year, Berger is a co-sponsor of the bill. This and the twin bills in both chambers mark a significant shift in his thinking on the legislation. 

“The General Assembly has made incredible strides to defend the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians,” Berger’s office wrote in a statement attributed to all of the bill’s Republican sponsors. “There is still more we can do though.”

According to WRAL, the House version would allow elected officials to carry concealed firearms into places where guns are otherwise banned, while the Senate version would not.

WCNC Charlotte spoke with gun rights advocates who worry about what this means for children.

“Repealing that law would send us backward, so we want to make sure that that law stays in place,” said Jessica Burroughs with the North Carolina chapter of MomsRising. “Lawmakers want to remove another barrier ensuring responsible gun ownership, including for people as young as 18, is unacceptable, and moms think that that’s outrageous.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children and teens—motivating some students to speak out themselves.

“Time and time again, legislators are not properly addressing what we see to be as a life or death situation, because these guns can impact us, not only at our homes but also in our schools,” said Anusha Yadav. She leads her school’s chapter of Students Demand Action in Durham and says she would like to focus more on safe storage laws.

Though House Bill 5 has gained the most traction, it’s just one of the gun-related bills introduced to the House:

• House Bill 38, or the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, would ban gun dealers from creating a record of people who own guns. This is expected to be discussed in committee on Tuesday.
• House Bill 9 seeks to prevent local governments from regulating the discharge of firearms on private property, as long as it is done with “reasonable care.”
• House Bill 28 is referred to as the “Gun Violence Prevention Act.” This would create a new crime for having a firearm while committing, or attempting to commit a felony.

Contact Julie Kay at juliekay@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.