Amends GS 14-269.4, prohibiting weapons on certain State property and in courthouses, by adding new subsection (4e) to exempt from the statute's prohibition any person who is a mayor, member of a board of commissioners, or member of a city council who carries or possesses a concealed handgun in any portion of a building housing a court, other than a courtroom itself, so long as (1) the person is in the building to discharge the person's official duties and (2) the person has a concealed handgun permit issued in accordance with Article 54B of GS Chapter 14 or considered valid under the reciprocity provisions of GS 14-415.24.

Amends GS 14-415.11, setting forth the scope of a permit to carry a concealed handgun, by adding a new subsection (c4) to allow a person who is a mayor, a member of a board of county commissioners, or member of a city council who has a concealed handgun permit issued pursuant to Article 54B of GS Chapter 14 or that is considered valid under the reciprocity provisions of GS 14-415.24 to carry a concealed handgun in: (1) the areas prohibited by GS 14-269.4 to the extent allowed in GS 14-269.4(4e) as enacted above and (2) a building housing only State offices, or an office of the State government that is not located in a building exclusively occupied by the State government, so long as (a) the building is a State building with a courthouse, (b) the person is in that prohibited area to discharge the person's official duties, and (c) the person does not carry the concealed handgun into a courtroom. Makes conforming changes.

Effective December 1, 2017, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date. Provides that prosecutions for offenses committed before the date the act becomes law are not abated or affected by the act, and the statutes that would be applicable but for this act remain applicable to those prosecutions.