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.
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