North Carolina

Confirmed directly from the official North Carolina General Assembly statute site: G.S. §14-269 regulates only CONCEALED carry of a pistol/gun ('unlawful ... to carry concealed ...'); it says nothing about open carry, which has never required a permit in North Carolina.

North Carolina's concealed-carry prohibited-place statutes (e.g. N.C.G.S. §14-269.3) do not name churches or places of worship; carry there is a property-owner decision like any other private property (posted-notice trespass rules apply generally).

G.S. § 14-269.3 generally bars carry into any establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed, but exempts concealed handgun permit holders — conditioned on not consuming alcohol (or having any alcohol/controlled substance in their system) and on the premises not being posted against concealed carry.

North Carolina's concealed handgun permit statute states a permit holder 'may carry a concealed handgun unless otherwise specifically prohibited by law' (G.S. § 14-415.11(a)), and the state's list of restricted premises (largely tied to G.S. § 14-269.2, school-focused) does not include boats, vessels, or waterways.

G.S. §14-269.4 bans weapons in the State Capitol Building, the Governor's residences and their grounds, and 'any building housing any court of the General Court of Justice' (courthouses) — with narrow exceptions for on-duty judges/magistrates and courthouse detention officers holding a valid permit. It does not extend to general state or local government buildings outside the Capitol complex, so a DMV office or city hall is not restricted by this section.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-269.2 bars carrying any firearm on "educational property," defined to include institutions of higher education. The only narrow exception lets a permit-holding EMPLOYEE keep a handgun locked in a vehicle in the campus lot — not general on-person carry — and does not extend to students, visitors, or the general public.

N.C.G.S. § 14-415.11(c): carrying on premises is unlawful once the person is given notice (posted conspicuous notice or personal communication) that carrying is prohibited; absent that notice, carry is presumptively lawful.

Verified directly: N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-415.11(c)(8) bars carry only 'On any private premises where notice that carrying a concealed handgun is prohibited by the posting of a conspicuous notice or statement by the person in legal possession or control' — an explicit opt-out/default-allow model requiring the owner to give notice.

No North Carolina source I found (usacarry.com or Wikipedia's 'Gun laws in North Carolina') mentions airports among restricted locations — both list educational property, state/federal buildings, law enforcement facilities, correctional facilities, and posted private property, with no airport entry. That is suggestive but not an affirmative statutory confirmation for airports specifically.

North Carolina requires a concealed handgun permit to carry a CONCEALED pistol (open carry of a visible handgun is generally legal without a permit for adults). Checking the official statute directly, the only vehicle-specific carve-out I could find in N.C.G.S. §14-269 is narrow: a handgun in a closed compartment/container within a person's own LOCKED vehicle parked in a State-government-owned or -leased parking area. I did not find a broader general 'locked vehicle anywhere' exception in the text — treat concealed vehicle carry elsewhere in NC as requiring a valid (NC-recognized) permit.

No North Carolina statute prohibits firearms in hospitals.

This is the single clearest, most explicit confirmation found in the entire study. N.C. Gen. Stat. §14-415.11(c) states verbatim: 'it shall be lawful for a person to carry any firearm openly, or to carry a concealed handgun with a permit, at any State-owned rest area, at any State-owned rest stop along the highways, and at any State-owned hunting and fishing reservation.' North Carolina affirmatively names highway rest areas/rest stops as places where CHP carry is lawful. Verified against the statute text directly.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-415.11(a): a concealed handgun permit holder "shall disclose to any law enforcement officer that the person holds a valid permit and is carrying a concealed handgun when approached or addressed by the officer," and must display both permit and ID on request. Failure to disclose is an infraction under § 14-415.21(a). Proactive, triggered by being approached/addressed, not by a specific question.

G.S. § 14-415.12(a)(1): applicant must "have been a resident of the State 30 days or longer immediately preceding the filing of the application," with no non-resident exception.

N.C. Gen. Stat. §14-269.2(a)-(b) bans firearms on educational property for 'any person, including a concealed handgun permittee.' A 2015 amendment (§14-269.2(k)) lets a CHP holder keep the firearm locked inside a vehicle on school grounds, briefly unlocking only to let someone in or out while the firearm stays secured — not a general carry right on campus.

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-415.11(c)(8) lists posted private premises among the places a concealed handgun permit does not authorize carry. I could not fetch the full penalty subsection to confirm whether mere entry (versus refusal to leave when asked) triggers criminal liability. My recollection — not independently verified live — is that North Carolina exempts a permittee from violation if they leave immediately upon request, meaning refusal to leave is likely what matters, but I'm not confident enough in that recollection to present it as confirmed.

G.S. § 14-409.40: "the entire field of regulation of firearms is preempted from regulation by local governments except as provided by this section." Named exceptions: commercial zoning (if applied evenhandedly), gun-show regulation (no stricter than other shows), local-government employees, and public buildings/grounds/parking areas/parks (individuals may still store firearms in vehicles there), plus emergency-declaration powers.

North Carolina has no enacted statute banning firearms at voting places. Senate Bill 398 (2025-2026 session), which would enact new GS 14-269.5 making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess/carry a weapon at, within 100 feet of, or while in line at a voting place, was filed March 24, 2025 and referred to the Senate Rules Committee on March 25, 2025 with no further recorded action since — it has not passed.

No state-level magazine capacity restriction found.

No standalone extreme risk protection order/red flag statute found in North Carolina; firearm removal exists only within standard domestic-violence protective orders and criminal/mental-health-adjudication disqualifications, not a dedicated risk-based civil process.

Suppressors, SBR/SBS, machine guns, destructive devices, and AOWs are covered by G.S. 14-288.8's definition of 'weapon of mass death and destruction,' but subsection (b)(5) exempts anyone lawfully possessing such an item in compliance with 26 U.S.C. Chapter 53, §§5801-5871 (the federal NFA) — an outright exclusion from the offense. Machine guns are separately addressed in G.S. 14-409 with the same NFA-compliance exemption. No additional NC permit, registration, or fee. Suppressor hunting is expressly allowed under G.S. 113-291.1(c)(2). NC does not separately ban pre-1986 transferable machine guns.

Stand Your Ground by statute: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-51.3 (with § 14-51.2 as the home/vehicle/workplace castle doctrine provision) — no duty to retreat anywhere lawfully present.

North Carolina's historic pistol-purchase-permit system (issued by county sheriff, and a de facto background check on all handgun acquisitions including private sales) was repealed in 2023 when the legislature overrode Gov. Cooper's veto of SB 41. Federal and state purchaser-eligibility prohibitions still apply, but there is no current North Carolina-specific background-check mandate for private sales.