From the Carolina Journal as appearing in the Carolina Coast Online

Two pieces of legislation passed the North Carolina House unanimously on Tuesday afternoon that target criminals looking to take advantage of households and businesses alike.

Both bills would increase the punishment for certain crimes. House Bill 34 aims to increase the punishment for mail larceny amid ongoing issues with package thieves. Under the proposal, the perpetrator would be sentenced at one class level higher than the principal offense for which the person was convicted if the stolen good was mail.

“It steps up the penalty by one step if you’re caught stealing packages,” said Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, the bill’s sponsor. “If you’re caught stealing packages, the thought is, how to stop some of these porch pirates from stealing your packages off your porch.”

The bill passed unanimously in a 114-0 vote.

“The term porch pirate really glosses over what is the basic element here — these are thieves,” said Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe. “And I think sometimes we have to be careful with the language we use and that we are trying to almost bubble wrap.”

The second public safety bill (House Bill 42) enhances burglary sentences committed by a person who’s also carrying a firearm. The person would be sentenced at a felony level that is one class higher than the principal felony for which the person was convicted under the legislation.

“This is a public safety bill designed to increase penalties for burglary and offenses, particularly when committing while in possession of a firearm or a deadly weapon,” explained Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, R-Henderson, a primary sponsor of the bill. “The legislation ensures the repeat offenders and armed criminals face stricter consequences while enforcing protection for homeowners, businesses and communities across North Carolina.”

The legislation passed 114-0.

Rep. Phil Ruben, D- Wake, commended the bill for defining what are the less severe and more severe versions of a given crime.

“When you break into someone’s house and you have a gun, that’s a lot worse than when you break into a house and you’re unarmed,” said Ruben. “And so what I really like about this bill is that it puts those types of offenses in the spectrum from least bad, to worst bad.

Both bills now await action in the North Carolina Senate.

The preceding article originally appeared on March 5, 2025 at Carolina Coast Online’s website and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Any views or opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Carolina Leadership Coalition.