North Carolina scrapped its pistol purchase permit in 2023, and Cory Booker’s S. 3544 would bring the permit idea back, only bigger, federal and for every firearm. Buried in the denial section, the attorney general could weigh any “recent acquisition of firearms, ammunition.” The bill sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Thom Tillis is a member.
| TELL TILLIS AND BUDD: HELL NO |
Can’t see the button? Sign the S. 3544 petition here.
Remember the pistol purchase permit? North Carolina finally scrapped it in 2023, after years of gun owners fighting to get rid of it. Well, Cory Booker wants to bring back the permit idea, only bigger, federal, and for every firearm.
It’s called the Federal Firearm Licensing Act, S. 3544. Under the bill as written, it’d be unlawful for you to purchase, receive, or even possess a firearm without a federal license. Seven Senate Democrats cosponsored it, including Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff.
What that license takes
I read the bill. To get one, you’d submit fingerprints, pass a background investigation, take a written test on gun laws, and pass a hands-on firing test proving “sufficient accuracy.” You’d list the make, model and serial number of the gun you want and who’s selling it. Then you’d wait up to 30 days for the attorney general’s answer.
If you’re approved, that license is good for a single firearm, which you have to buy within 30 days. It expires after five years, and renewing means meeting every requirement again.
Buried in the denial section
State and local officials get notice of your application and can submit information saying you’re a danger. The attorney general can weigh a prior arrest with no conviction, a “history of unsafe storage,” and any “recent acquisition of firearms, ammunition.” If a license is revoked, the bill requires procedures to remove your guns.
On top of that, every sale gets reported to the attorney general within three business days, and private sales would have to go through a licensed dealer.
Why Tillis matters on this one
Where S. 3544 stands today
■ Introduced by Sen. Cory Booker, December 17, 2025
■ Senate Judiciary Committee, where it sits now. Sen. Thom Tillis is a member.
□ Senate floor vote
□ House
□ President’s desk
Booker’s bill is parked in Senate Judiciary, and Thom Tillis sits on that committee. That’s the room where a bill like this either dies or gets a hearing. I want Tillis, Ted Budd and your congressman hearing from North Carolina gun owners, by name, that the answer is hell no.
Republicans run the Senate today, so I’m not going to tell you a vote’s coming next week. But the Left builds these bills, lines up cosponsors and waits for their moment. When it comes, I want our delegation already on the record.
| TELL TILLIS AND BUDD: HELL NO |
Can’t see the button? Sign the S. 3544 petition here.
If you already signed, thank you. Forward this to one gun owner who hasn’t. North Carolina didn’t get rid of a permit system just to watch Washington build a bigger one.
For Freedom,
Chris Dorr
Executive Director
North Carolina Firearms Coalition
P.S. S. 3544 sits in the committee Thom Tillis serves on. Tell him, Ted Budd and your congressman to oppose it before it ever gets a hearing.