Seven Libertarian NC House candidates back constitutional carry pledge

Seven Libertarian candidates for the North Carolina House have signed a pledge to support constitutional carry and force recorded votes on firearms bills. The move comes as House Republicans have repeatedly scheduled and withdrawn a veto override on Senate Bill 50 without taking a roll-call vote.

Why it matters: - The pledge is a direct challenge to North Carolina House leadership over whether lawmakers will publicly record support or opposition on constitutional carry. - North Carolina has not joined the 29 states that no longer require a permit for a law-abiding adult to carry a firearm for self-defense. - The issue remains alive because the General Assembly can still take up the Senate Bill 50 veto override through Dec. 31, 2026.

What happened: - Seven Libertarian candidates for the North Carolina House signed the 30th State Pledge. - The signers are Angela Humphries (District 3), Nick Taylor (District 25), Ed George (District 34), Wayne Cockrell (District 39), Lucas Everett Jones (District 40), Christopher Sessions (District 53) and Matthew P. Clements (District 56). - The pledge commits candidates to support bills that remove barriers to lawful firearm ownership and to help make North Carolina the 30th constitutional carry state. - The Libertarian Party of North Carolina is inviting candidates of any party to sign the pledge. - The full text is available at the 30th State Pledge.

The details: - The pledge calls for support of bills that repeal permits, fees, registries and waiting periods. - The pledge also rejects trading firearms restrictions for unrelated legislation. - Signers commit to publishing their votes in plain language within 30 days. - Signers also commit to being present and casting a recorded vote on every firearms measure that reaches the floor. - Senate Bill 50, the Freedom to Carry NC Act, was filed in February 2025 by three Republican senators and cosponsored by 19 more. - The Senate passed SB 50, 26-18, in March 2025. - The House passed the bill, 59-48, in June 2025. - Governor Josh Stein vetoed SB 50 on June 20, 2025. - The Senate overrode that veto, 30-19, on July 29, 2025. - House Republicans have scheduled and withdrawn the override vote nine times without taking a recorded vote. - Republicans hold 71 of 120 seats in the North Carolina House. - The Wake Forest Law Review counted the nine withdrawn override calendars, with further calendar entries and withdrawals through April 2026. - When the current short session began on April 21, 2026, Libertarian Party of North Carolina members and GRNC members urged House Speaker Destin Hall and the House Republican caucus to override the veto. - Hall promised GRNC President Paul Valone and Andy Stevens that he would call the override vote, win or lose, so the public could see where lawmakers stood. - On Aug. 10, 2026, Hall told reporters leadership intended to override vetoed bills “at some point if we possibly can.”

Between the lines: - The pledge is designed to force accountability, not just signal policy preference. - The repeated cancellations have shifted the fight from the bill itself to whether House leaders will allow a recorded vote. - Andy Stevens, a former vice president of Grass Roots North Carolina and former North Carolina state director of Gun Owners of America, said gun owners have been “patient to the point of being taken for granted.” - Ryan Brown, chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina, said Republican leadership has had 14 months and nine chances but has produced only a calendar entry that keeps getting erased. - The party is trying to make gun rights a cross-party test for candidates, not just a Republican base issue.

What’s next: - The North Carolina General Assembly can still act on the SB 50 override before the end of 2026. - Hall has indicated the chamber may reconvene after the November election. - The Libertarian Party of North Carolina will keep pressing candidates from every party to sign the pledge. - The party says it is running more than 30 candidates in the 2026 election cycle, including nine for the North Carolina House.

The bottom line: - Seven Libertarian candidates are trying to turn a stalled gun-rights fight into a recorded vote that voters can verify.