HB 28 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Gun Violence Prevention Act.

HB 28, the "Gun Violence Prevention Act," creates a new criminal offense for individuals convicted of a felony who possess a firearm or "weapon of mass death and destruction" (as defined in state law) during the commission or attempt of another felony. It imposes stricter penalties: a Class C felony if the weapon is discharged, Class D for brandishing (displaying the weapon), and Class F for other violations. This law applies specifically to convicted felons who already face restrictions on firearm possession, treating this additional offense as separate from the underlying felony. The bill takes effect December 1, 2025, for offenses committed on or after that date.

Issues: ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 30, 2025 Last action Mar 19, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 1 → Edition 2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized to consolidate all offenses related to felons possessing weapons into a single section (G.S. 14-415.1) rather than creating a new separate section. This change clarifies that possessing, brandishing, or discharging a weapon during a felony are now distinct tiers of the same crime with specific penalties (Class F, D, and C felonies, respectively). Additionally, the text includes several grammatical corrections and clarifies the definition of 'conviction' for legal purposes.

Scope change

The scope shifted from adding a new standalone statute to rewriting an existing one to include multiple specific acts (possession, brandishing, discharging) as escalating penalties within a single legal framework.

SCOPE

Consolidated possession, brandishing, and discharging of weapons by felons into one rewritten statute (G.S. 14-415.1) with tiered felony penalties based on the severity of the act.

DEFINITION

Corrected a grammatical error in the definition of 'firearm' by changing 'is (i)' to 'is (i) any weapon' and fixed a typo in the penalty clause ('Class G F felon' changed to 'Class G felony').

REQUIREMENT

Added detailed requirements for indictments, specifying that charges must separately list the date, type, and penalty of the prior felony conviction.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified exemptions, stating the law does not apply to individuals who have been pardoned or had their firearms rights restored under the laws of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred.

TIMELINE

Reordered the effective date section from Section 3 to Section 2, maintaining the December 1, 2025 effective date.

Floor votes · House Mar 18, 2025

How they voted

112–7

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 121

Mar 18, 2025

D Democratic46

38 Yea 7 Nay 1

82% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican73

72 Yea 1

98% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 19, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to the Com on Judiciary 2, if favorable, Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Serial Referral To Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Stricken

lower

Feb 3, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs, if favorable, Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

3 primary · 27 co-sponsors