Senate amendments add the following content to the 2nd edition and make conforming changes to the act’s long title.

Amendment #1 increases the amount paid to the surviving family member from $100,000 to $150,000 when the following individuals are killed in the line of duty or murdered in the line of duty: firefighters, law enforcement officers, noncustodial employees of the Department of Adult Correction or the Division of Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety, rescue squad workers, and Senior Civil Air Patrol members.

Amendment #2 require the UNC Board of Governors to develop a scholarship program for any child at least 17 years old but not yet 28 whose parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian is a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, firefighter, volunteer firefighter, or rescue squad worker who is permanently and totally disabled as a result of a traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty. Requires the program to include assistance with tuition, fees, educational supplies, and boarding expenses not covered under GS Chapter 115B, for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Requires a report to the specified NCGA committee by July 1, 2026.

Amendment #4 amends GS 14-34.5 (assault with a firearm on a law enforcement, probation, or parole officer, or on a member of the North Carolina National Guard, or on a person employed at a State or local detention facility) as follows. Increases the punishment so that any person who commits an assault with a firearm upon the listed government employees while the employee is performing their duties is guilty of a Class B1 felony (was, Class D felony). Adds emergency medical technicians or other emergency health care providers, medical responders, firefighters, and telecommunicators employed by a law enforcement agency as types of government employees whose assault by a firearm would trigger liability under the statute. Specifies that GS 14-34.6 applies to assaults with use of a firearm to any person not already covered under GS 14-34.5.

Amendments #6 and #8 amend GS 14-415.1 to make punishment for violations of the prohibition on a felon purchasing, owning, possessing, or having in the person's custody, care, or control any firearm or any weapon of mass death and destruction, a (1) Class C felony when the person discharges a firearm during the commission or attempted commission of a felony under GS Chapter 14 or Article 5 (North Carolina Controlled Substances Act) of GS Chapter 90, and (2) Class F felony when the violation happens during the commission or attempted commission of a felony under GS Chapter 14 or Article 5 of GS Chapter 90. Makes additional technical and clarifying changes.