Seven Libertarian NC House Candidates Sign '30th State Pledge,' Committing to a Recorded Vote on Constitutional Carry

Republicans have scheduled and withdrawn the Senate Bill 50 override nine times without ever taking the vote

RALEIGH, NC, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Seven Libertarian candidates for the North Carolina House of Representatives have signed the 30th State Pledge, a public commitment to vote for every measure that removes a barrier to lawful firearm ownership and to make North Carolina the thirtieth constitutional carry state in the country.

The pledge takes its name from the map. Twenty-nine states have ended the requirement that a law-abiding adult buy a permit before carrying a firearm for self-defense. South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee have all done it. North Carolina has not.

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 each signer to specific obligations, including supporting every bill that repeals permits, fees, registries and waiting periods; refusing to trade firearms restrictions for unrelated legislation; publishing their votes in plain language within thirty days; and — pointedly — being present in the chamber and casting a recorded vote on every firearms measure that reaches the floor.

That last clause is the one that distinguishes it from a campaign mailer.

Two years, one bill, zero votes

Senate Bill 50, the "Freedom to Carry NC" Act, was filed in February 2025 by three Republican senators and cosponsored by nineteen more. It passed the Senate 26–18 in March 2025 and the House 59–48 in June 2025. Governor Josh Stein vetoed it on June 20, 2025. The Senate overrode that veto 30–19 on July 29, 2025.

Then it stopped.

"Gun owners in this state have been patient to the point of being taken for granted and now dismissed by NC House leadership," said Andy Stevens, former Vice President of Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC.org) and former NC State Director of Gun Owners of America (goa.org).

"A vote that fails at least tells us where every member stands. Nine withdrawn calendars tell us nothing, which is precisely why they were withdrawn. Gun rights voters welcome any candidate of any party who is willing to put this in writing, and we will be watching who signs and who finds a reason not to. Republicans should no longer expect they have the monopoly of our votes, especially with their history of abandoning us when time comes to cast votes on our behalf."

Republicans hold 71 of 120 seats in the North Carolina House. In the fourteen months since the Senate acted, House leadership has placed the override on the calendar and withdrawn it repeatedly — nine scheduled override votes that never happened, by the count of the Wake Forest Law Review, with further calendar entries and withdrawals through April 2026. Not one of them produced a recorded vote.

When the current short session began on April 21, 2026, members of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina joined GRNC members to personally remind NC House Speaker Destin Hall and the House Republican caucus to override Governor Stein's veto of SB50. Speaker Hall promised both GRNC President Paul Valone and Stevens that he would call the override vote, win or lose, to let the public know where the votes on this matter fell.

On August 10, 2026, House Speaker Destin Hall told reporters that leadership intends to override vetoed bills "at some point if we possibly can." He did not mention his promise to hold the vote, win or lose, to let voters know where the incumbents stand. He seems to have forgotten that promise.

In the two years of this General Assembly, not a single measure expanding the right to carry has become law in North Carolina.

"Nine people signed their names to a piece of paper this week, and the party with seventy-one seats still hasn't signed its name to a roll call," said Ryan Brown, Chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina. "Republicans in Raleigh have had fourteen months and nine chances. What they've produced is a calendar entry they keep erasing. Our candidates are not promising to win this vote. They are promising to be in the building when it is taken, and to let you see how they voted. That used to be the minimum."

The clock has not run out

The North Carolina General Assembly retains the authority to take up the Senate Bill 50 override through December 31, 2026. Speaker Hall has indicated the chamber may reconvene after the November election.

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina is inviting every candidate for the General Assembly, of any party, to sign the 30th State Pledge. The full text is available at lpnc.org/30th_state_pledge.

"The pledge is one page and takes ninety seconds to read," Brown said. "If a sitting member won't sign it, that is also an answer. Gun rights voters have a right to know who stands for them or against them, even if current House Leadership protects them by denying a recorded vote.”

About the Libertarian Party of North Carolina

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina is a recognized political party advocating individual liberty, civil rights, limited government and fiscal accountability. The party is running more than 30 candidates for local, state and federal office in the 2026 election cycle, including nine candidates for the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Rob Yates
Libertarian Party of North Carolina (lpnc.org)
+1 803-250-1075
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