A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to exempt certain retired probation and parole certified officers from the firearm safety and training course requirement for purposes of the concealed handgun permit and to provide that the prohibition against carrying a concealed weapon does not apply to state probation and parole certified officers when they are off‑duty.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 14‑415.10 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(4b)	Qualified retired probation or parole certified officer. – An individual who retired from service as a State probation or parole certified officer, other than for reasons of mental disability, who has been retired as a probation or parole certified officer two years or less from the date of the permit application and who meets all of the following criteria:
a.	Immediately before retirement, the individual met firearms training standards of the Department of Correction and was authorized by the Department of Correction to carry a handgun in the course of duty. 
b.	The individual retired in good standing and was never a subject of a disciplinary action by the Department of Correction that would have prevented the individual from carrying a handgun.
c.	The individual has a vested right to benefits under the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System of North Carolina established under Article 1 of Chapter 135 of the General Statutes.
d.	The individual is not prohibited by State or federal law from receiving a firearm."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 14‑415.12A(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	A person who is a qualified sworn law enforcement officer, a qualified former sworn law enforcement officer, or a qualified retired probation or parole certified officer is deemed to have satisfied the requirement under G.S. 14‑415.12(a)(4) that an applicant successfully complete an approved firearms safety and training course."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 14‑269(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(6)	State probation or parole certified officers, when off‑duty, provided that an officer does not carry a concealed weapon while consuming alcohol or an unlawful controlled substance or while alcohol or an unlawful controlled substance remains in the officer's body."SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2010.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act apply to probation and parole officers who retired before, on, or after December 1, 2010.