Gov. McCrory Signs HB 937 Into Law

Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) signed HB 937 into law today. In a release regarding the signing of many bills, he said in reference to this bill:

HB 937 (Reps. Schaffer, Burr, Faircloth and Cleveland) Amend Various Firearms Laws - This legislation amends state firearms laws.

“This legislation prohibits guns in classrooms, dorms, and administrative buildings on college campuses. Additionally, this legislation gives bar owners the authority to prohibit guns in their establishments. Following my threat of a veto, we worked closely with law enforcement officials across the state so that changes were made to the original legislation. This ensured that permitting is still required for a concealed carry permit and is implemented at the local level.” – Governor Pat McCrory

“Like many North Carolinians, I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. As a 34-year veteran of law enforcement here in North Carolina, I believe it’s important that Sherriff’s offices continue to administer the certification process for concealed carry permits. I would like to thank Governor Pat McCrory for his efforts on behalf of public safety in ensuring this common sense provision remained in HB 937.” – Guilford County Sherriff BJ Barnes

I'm glad that McCrory signed the bill but his and Barnes' description of what was left out of the bill is as full of crap as the drivel from the gun prohibitionists regarding guns in restaurants and bars.

As much as I would have liked it, no version of the bill ever proposed having concealed carry within classrooms, dorms, or other university buildings. The bill only addressed employees living on campus and permit holder storing firearms in their locked vehicles - and this was left in the bill despite the objections of the University of North Carolina System and its administration.

Even worse is the suggestion that the Concealed Handgun Permit was going to be taken from the state's sheriffs. What was going to be dropped with the Jim Crow-era law that allowed sheriffs to deny African-Americans handguns. This was the pistol purchase permit system which still is administered in disparate ways county to county. This bill will correct some of that.

To say I'm not pleased by the comments of either the governor or Sheriff Barnes is an understatement.

UPDATE: To answer a question posed in the comments as to when the law becomes effective, for the most part, it will be October 1, 2013.

The only section that specifically goes into effect immediately is Section 17.3. This section instructs sheriffs to go through the outstanding pistol purchase permits that have been issued to see if any of them need to be revoked because the holder has become a prohibited person under the standards set forth in GS 14-404(h).

GS 14-404(h) was established by Section 17.2(a) of the bill. Subsection (h) states:

the occurrence of any event or condition subsequent to the issuance of the permit, or the applicant's subsequent inability to meet a requirement under this Article, which would have resulted in a denial of the application submitted to obtain the permit if the event, condition, or the applicant's current inability to meet a statutory requirement had existed at the time of the application and prior to the issuance of the permit .