RALEIGH – Gov.Roy Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 43 late last week, which would have expanded concealed-carry laws to include places of worship that are shared with a school campus, as long as the worship activities do not take place during school hours.
“For the safety of students and teachers, North Carolina should keep guns off school grounds,” Gov. Cooper said in a statement.
The veto marked No. 55 in his five years thus far as governor and the second of the 2021–22 legislative session.
House Speaker Tim Moore said the bill was “a narrowly targeted legislation that simply allows North Carolinians to exercise their Second Amendment rights at a religious meeting place that is also the location of a school, as long as it is outside school operating hours.”
The bill did attract bipartisan support; however, legislative Democrats have sided with Cooper on numerous veto override votes in the past five years.
