North Carolina Defends Felon Gun Ban

North Carolina's attorney general and a coalition of sheriffs are asking the state Supreme Court to uphold the law barring convicted felons from owning firearms.

State of play: The case centers on Eric Ducker — convicted of fleeing police, reckless driving, and multiple domestic violence order violations — who was later caught with a gun and charged under the Felony Firearms Act. His challenge to the law is now before the NC Supreme Court.

Catch up quick:

• AG Jeff Jackson filed the case, with police chiefs, sheriffs, and prosecutors as co-parties
• Governor Josh Stein filed a separate brief backing Jackson's arguments
• Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone is among the law enforcement voices publicly supporting the challenge

The legal question: Ducker's challenge is an all-or-nothing argument — toss the entire Felony Firearms Act. Jackson and the sheriffs aren't buying it.

"I think legally, there's a very big difference between saying 'there are circumstances where it's not appropriate,' to saying the entire law should be thrown out." — AG Jeff Jackson

Both Jackson and Stone acknowledged the edge case: what about non-violent felonies? Neither man pushed for automatic restoration of rights, but both pointed to existing expungement processes as the right vehicle for those situations — not wholesale repeal of the statute.

Between the lines: Sheriff Stone isn't just defending the status quo — he's pushing for stiffer penalties when already-violent offenders are caught with firearms again. That's a harder line than the AG's office is formally arguing, and it signals where rank-and-file law enforcement actually sits on this issue.

What to watch: The NC Supreme Court has the case and will issue the final ruling. No timeline has been set. If the court narrows rather than overturns the law — carving out non-violent felonies, for example — that ruling could ripple into similar challenges in other states.