Key stories shaping the North Carolina gun law debate

This collection of stories examines recent events and legal decisions that influence North Carolina’s ongoing debate over gun policy.

Lawmakers weighed changes to concealed carry laws, including a Senate bill to remove permit requirements. At the same time, charges were filed after a 3-year-old died in a car from an accidental gunshot.

Governor Josh Stein vetoed legislation that would have ended the concealed carry permit mandate. Other stories included a 14-year-old charged with murder in a Durham shooting and the suspension of a Raleigh bar’s liquor license following gun violence.

Read the stories below.

A man pleaded guilty in Orange County, NC, on Monday to charges that he used a gun to threaten a supervisor at Alpine Bagels on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in September 2023.

NO. 1: GUNMAN WHO THREATENED UNC BAGEL SHOP EMPLOYEE SENTENCED IN ORANGE COUNTY

Mickel Harris was arrested in September 2023 after armed threats shut down UNC’s campus for 2nd time in 16 days. | Published January 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Tammy Grubb

Aryion Clendenning, a 15-year-old Riverside High School student known as AJ, died in a Durham snow day shooting on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025.

NO. 2: DURHAM POLICE CHARGE 14-YEAR-OLD WITH MURDER IN SNOW-DAY KILLING OF 15-YEAR-OLD

The teen went on the run after shooting at a state trooper in Chapel Hill, authorities reported. | Published February 5, 2025 | Read Full Story by Mary Helen Moore

House Speaker Destin Hall, left, and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, talk before Gov. Josh Stein delivered his State of the State address to a joint session of the General Assembly on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in the House chamber of the Legislative Building. By Travis Long

NO. 3: NC SENATE MOVES FIRST TO END PERMIT REQUIREMENT FOR CONCEALED CARRY OF HANDGUNS

The bill passed along party lines, but not before Democrats successfully amended it to add benefits for slain police officers and their families. | Published March 20, 2025 | Read Full Story by Avi Bajpai

Police have arrested a 65-year-old man after a woman found shot on Cantwell Court in East Raleigh on Thursday night died. Keith L. Atkinson of Raleigh is charged with murder and possession of a stolen firearm in the death of 38-year-old Alana Enoicy, according to a news release.

NO. 4: MAN, 65, CHARGED WITH MURDER, STOLEN GUN, AFTER WOMAN SHOT IN EAST RALEIGH

Police responded to the shooting on Cantwell Court just before 8 p.m. | Published March 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Mark Schultz

On Sunday, a rap artist’s van and other vehicles were struck by gunfire outside Star Bar at 1731 Trawick Road in Raleigh.

NO. 5: RALEIGH’S STAR BAR LIQUOR LICENSE SUSPENDED AFTER LATEST GUN VIOLENCE

The bar has “a history of violent incidents, arrests, and numerous calls for service, including controlled substance offenses, assaults, disturbances [and] shootings.” | Published April 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by ABC11

A man will spend years in federal prison after robbing multiple Wake County pharmacies with a handgun, federal officials said.

NO. 6: HE ROBBED DOZENS OF NC STORES. HOW WAKE COUNTY PHARMACIES LED TO HIS ARREST

Marvin Rashaad Cummings was convicted of robbing Walgreens and CVS stores. His sentence was announced Monday. | Published April 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Lexi Solomon

A gun accidentally discharged in a car parked near a Mebane sports field, killing a 3-year-old, North Carolina police said.

NO. 7: 3-YEAR-OLD DIES AFTER GUN ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ GOES OFF IN PARKED CAR, NC POLICE SAY

“This is a heartbreaking loss,” North Carolina police said in a statement. | Published May 8, 2025 | Read Full Story by Natalie Demaree

House Bill 189 would repeal the concealed carry permit law and lower the age for when it becomes legal to carry a concealed weapon from 21 to 18. By Travis Long

NO. 8: IT’S LEGAL TO CARRY A HANDGUN IN NC WITHOUT A PERMIT, BUT ONLY IN SOME CASES

North Carolina has laws about who can carry guns, whether openly or concealed, and when. Here’s an overview. | Published June 12, 2025 | Read Full Story by Renee Umsted

Newly elected House Speaker Destin Hall gavels out the North Carolina General Assembly’s first 2025 legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, at the Legislative Building. By Travis Long

NO. 9: WITH SOME GOP DISSENT, REPEAL OF CONCEALED CARRY REQUIREMENTS GOES TO NC GOV. STEIN

The North Carolina House backed a bill Wednesday to let anyone age 18 and older carry a concealed handgun. | Published June 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan

Each week, join Dawn Vaughan for The News & Observer and NC Insider’s Under the Dome podcast, an in-depth analysis of topics in state government and politics for North Carolina.

NO. 10: IF STEIN VETOES GUN BILL, NC HOUSE DOESN’T HAVE THE VOTES TO PASS IT — FOR NOW

Plus, HBCU advocates call for voting rights and more funding. | Published June 12, 2025 | Read Full Story by Ronni Butts Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan Kyle Ingram

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein says the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season starts with more uncertainty than usual because of questions around federal funding for NOAA, which predicts hurricanes, and FEMA, which helps pay for recovery after a storm hits. By Robert Willett

NO. 11: DEMOCRATIC NC GOV. JOSH STEIN VETOES BILL TO END CONCEALED GUN PERMIT MANDATE

Gov. Josh Stein vetoed a Republican bill allowing people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit. | Published June 20, 2025 | Read Full Story by Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.