A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to increase the penalty for the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑415.1(a) reads as rewritten:
 "(a)	It shall be unlawful for any person who has been convicted of a felony to purchase, own, possess, or have in his custody, care, or control any firearm or any weapon of mass death and destruction as defined in G.S. 14‑288.8(c). For the purposes of this section, a firearm is (i) any weapon, including a starter gun, which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, or its frame or receiver, or (ii) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer. This section does not apply to an antique firearm, as defined in G.S. 14‑409.11.
Every person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished as a Class F felon."
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2007, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.