The North Carolina House on March 18 approved the committee substitute to House Bill 28, described on the floor as the Gun Violence Prevention Act, after floor debate over whether the measure primarily enhances penalties for felons who possess or use firearms. The committee substitute passed second reading 111–7 and was later approved on third reading and ordered to be sent to the Senate.

Sponsor remarks framed the bill as a public-safety measure. Representative Malcolm, recognized to debate the bill, said: “House Bill 28 is [a] critical public safety measure. It's designed to prevent violent felons from possessing, vanishing, or discharging firearms or weapons of mass death and destruction ... The bill enhances the penalties for repeat offenders and criminals who escalate their offense using firearms, helping law enforcement reduce gun violence, and protecting communities.”

Opponents on the floor objected to both the substance and the labeling of the bill. Representative Maury Rice questioned whether the sentencing changes had been reviewed by the Sentencing and Policy Commission and called the title misleading. Rice said the provision is largely duplicative of existing felon-in-possession and weapons statutes and warned of fiscal consequences, citing a fiscal estimate discussed on the floor: “This has nothing to do with gun violence prevention. It is enhancing criminal sentencing that we should be looking to our Sentencing Policy Commission for advice on. The bill already is illegal for felons to have guns, weapons. This bill ... will add 20 years to your sentence of life without parole ... So I think we're acting a little irrationally.”

Other members who have lost relatives to gun violence spoke in favor of the bill and urged the House to adopt measures they considered defensive and preventive; one member said the bill is part of “defense” and offered support for additional measures such as safe-storage and red-flag laws.

After debate the clerk reported a recorded vote of 111 yeas and 7 nays on the committee substitute. The House then read the measure a third time and ordered it to be sent to the Senate.