Senator Bill Cook Legislative Update: XI | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

Protecting Second Amendment Rights

    Recently, the General Assembly passed House Bill 562, legislation aimed at protecting the Second Amendment rights of North Carolinians. It helps ensure the safety of public servants in our judicial system and citizens throughout the state, while also streamlining the permitting process for law-abiding applicants and protecting gun business owners from unfair regulations.

    The bill keeps public servants safe by allowing district attorneys, administrative law judges and other Department of Public Safety employees to carry a concealed handgun in a courtroom as long as they hold the proper permit. Additionally, the bill eliminates a restriction that prevents concealed carry permit holders from keeping their firearms inside their locked vehicles on educational property. It also increases protections for permit holders in cases where they are forced to remove their firearms from their vehicles to protect themselves and their families.

    Streamlines the gun permitting process for law-abiding North Carolinians by:

    Directing the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to create a statewide form and application for the pistol purchase permit and requiring all sheriffs to use the new statewide form and application. It also requires pistol permit applications and concealed handgun permit applications to be made available electronically.

    Specifying the information to be collected and reported to National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for background checks. Requiring the Department of Public Safety to study the development of a system to allow background checks in private transactions.

    Boosts safety protections by requiring law enforcement agencies to fingerprint those charged with certain misdemeanors and forward those fingerprints to NICS. Ensures law-abiding business owners cannot be targeted with unfair and overbearing regulations by providing that shooting ranges are only subject to noise ordinances that were in effect at the time the shooting range began operation.

Bonner Bridge on N.C. Hwy. 12 in the Outer Banks.

Construction of Bonner Bridge Replacement

    The final barriers have been removed that will allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to replace the aging Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over the Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks. After completing the terms of a settlement, environmental groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center have dropped all remaining lawsuits that prevented NCDOT from replacing the 52-year-old Bonner Bridge with a new bridge parallel to the existing one.

    Bonner Bridge Replacement: NCDOT awarded a $216 million design-build contract for the 3.5 mile-long Bonner Bridge replacement to the team of PCL Constructors Inc. and HDR Engineering Inc. of the Carolinas in 2011. This contract is still in place and the final contract amount will be adjusted to meet current costs associated with the construction delay.

    Pea Island: NCDOT will move forward with plans to construct an interim bridge on Pea Island at the location of the existing temporary bridge that was constructed after Hurricane Irene formed a breach in 2011. The interim bridge will be easier to maintain than the existing temporary bridge. It will provide safe access for the area while the department studies options for a long-term solution at this location.

    This announcement of the Bonner Bridge replacement is a significant gain as well as relief to the residents of the Outer Banks and the millions of visitors that travel to the area each year. The replacement of the Bonner Bridge has been deliberated for the past couple of decades. I'm thankful to the support from my colleagues in the N.C. General Assembly, Governor McCrory, and the N.C. Department of Transportation for actually getting us over the finish line.

Contact: Jordan Hennessy
     jordan.hennessy@ncleg.net, •  (252) 619-3606


     300 N. Salisbury Street
     Room 525 • Raleigh, NC 27603

    Phone: (919) 715-8293  •  Fax: (919) 754-3296  •  bill.cook@ncleg.net