Uncategorized

Using Tax Money To Lobby Against Gun Rights

September 27, 2013 by 1 Comment

The North Carolina School Board Action Center is a 501(c)(4) organization funded by individual county school boards. As a 501(c)(4) organization, they are allowed to lobby the General Assembly and take part in political campaigns so long as their “primary activity is the promotion of social welfare” according to the IRS. The NCSBAC is the political action arm of the North Carolina School Boards Association and receives its funding through property taxes allocated to the local school boards.

It seems that one of their primary legislative objectives is the repeal of that part of NC GS 14-269.2 which allows limited campus carry for employees who live on campus and allows concealed carry holders to store a firearm in their locked vehicles while on school property.

Grass Roots North Carolina is taking issue with tax money being used to lobby against our gun rights. They released an alert yesterday about it and ask that people contact their local county commissions and school boards to make their displeasure known.

From GRNC:

NC School Boards Assoc Uses YOUR MONEY To Attack Gun Rights
Creates “North Carolina School Board’s Action Center”, a new 501(c)(4) organization designed to divert Education
funds to promote personal anti-gun agenda…

Since Governor Pat McCrory signed HB 937 into law, the North Carolina School Board Association
has been
touting its newly formed North Carolina School Board’s Action Center
(NCSBAC), a new 501(c)(4) organization designed to “strengthen local
school board advocacy efforts”.  The group receives its funding from
individual county school boards through the collection of property
taxes.  Among their stated primary objectives is to advocate for the
repeal of NCGS 14-269.2, which recently granted law-abiding North
Carolinian’s with limited campus carry provisions.

That’s right,
the NCSBAC is devising a scheme to misappropriate tax dollars
collected for education purposes to fund their anti-gun agenda!  The
brainchild of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Vice-Chairman
Tim Morgan and political director Leanne Winner,
who has been crisscrossing the state spewing her
propaganda during district-wide legislative reviews, has made the
organization’s intentions clear:  to attack the limited Campus Carry
provisions which go into effect on October 1st.

Specifically,
she has advised local school board members that “NCGS 14.269.2
is a safety concern for public schools”.  She repeatedly and mockingly
states that the reason for allowing concealed carry permit holders
to retain their guns in a locked car was to provide them with the
opportunity to “save the day” in the event of a school
shooting.   But, in her opinion, the real effect of the legislation was
to create a situation where adults angry over the outcome of a high
school football game could settle their disputes by “shooting it out in
the parking lots”.  Winner goes on to say that NCSBA will use
their 501(c)(4) organization to repeal this provision of  NC GS
14-269.2.

Enough is enough!

While the
continued economic downward turn is forcing teacher layoffs and reduced
funding to schools across the state, the notion that what little funds
remain
be spent on pressing a personal political agenda becomes all the more
incredulous. Our tax dollars can be utilized in a multitude of more
efficient
ways to raise and maintain the educational standards of our children
than to have them diverted into such pet projects filled with outright
anti-gun
propaganda.

You CAN make a
difference! Using the suggested message and contact information below,
contact
your local School Board and county commissioners today and demand that
they no longer fund the NCBAS until such time as they turn their
attention away
from personal political projects and return to working to better the
educational system in North Carolina in a more meaningful way.


IMMEDIATE ACTION
REQUIRED!

  • CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD: Using
    the contact information provided below and suggested message, contact
    your local
    school board members and demand that tax money not be spent to fund the
    NCSBAC which will be used to attack NC GS 14-269.2 by advocating its
    repeal.
  • CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:
    Using the contact information
    below, contact your county commissioners and demand that tax money not
    be appropriated to fund the NCSBAC which will be used to attack NC GS
    14-269.2
    by advocating its repeal.
CONTACT
INFO
School board email addresses can be found by selecting the “Search Organization” option and typing
in your county.

Contact your county commissioners by selecting your county here . 

Or, copy and paste the
following to your browser:

http://www.ncsba.org/index.php?submenu=About&src=directory&view=directory&srctype=directory_lister_boardmembers

http://www.ncacc.org/index.aspx?nid=171t

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Education Tax Dollars Should Not Be
Misappropriated for Anti-Second Amendment Agenda”  
 

(To Local School Board Members)

Dear County
School Board Member:

It has been brought to my attention that the
North Carolina School Board Association has created a 501(c)(4), the
North Carolina School Board’s Action Center, with the intent to
specifically target positive pro-gun legislation recently signed into
law. As a
parent/ grandparent/ taxpayer, I am seriously offended that any school
board member would condone siphoning money earmarked for education
purposes to
attack my Second Amendment rights or any other personal political
agenda.

I hope that you will represent me by advocating for
education and
demand that no money from our county school board be used to fund the
NCSBAC efforts. I will be monitoring this situation via alerts issued by
Grass
Roots North Carolina and will remember to vote accordingly.

Respectfully,

(To County Commissioners)

Dear County
Commissioner:

It has been brought to my attention that the North
Carolina School Board Association has created a 501(c)(4), the North
Carolina School Board’s Action Center, to specifically target positive
pro-gun legislation recently signed into law. As a taxpayer within your
county, I am offended by this scheme and ask you to instruct the school
board that none of our tax dollars be used to
fund the NCSBAC. I adamantly oppose any misuse of education funds.

I
hope that you will represent me by advocating for education and demand
that no money from our county school board be misappropriated by the
NCSBAC. I will be monitoring this situation via alerts issued by Grass
Roots
North Carolina and will remember to vote accordingly.

Respectfully,
Uncategorized

Upcoming Events For Grass Roots North Carolina

September 26, 2013 by

Grass Roots North Carolina has two big upcoming events – one a “meet and greet” this weekend and the other is “dinner and a movie” in various NC cities on October 1st. The latter is on the day that the new gun laws go into effect which include the ability to carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol. To clarify, a person who is legally carrying concealed in North Carolina is forbidden by law to consume alcoholic beverages while carrying.

Bunnlevel is in Harnett County about halfway between Raleigh and Fayetteville. If I lived closer, I’d love to attend. Range 37 PSR Gun Club is one of the premier gun clubs in North Carolina and looks like a fantastic facility.

From GRNC:

Two Upcoming GRNC Events!
Mark your calenders…   

1st Annual GRNC Meet, Greet, Eat & Shoot at 37 PSR in Bunnlevel, NC on Saturday, September 28th from noon until 6pm:
The event is $30 per person (free under 16) and will be a great
opportunity to come out and spend the day with many of the GRNC
volunteers who work hard for our gun rights every day. Dinner is
potluck, so bring a dish and utensils. For info: GRNC@nc.rr.com or call 877-282-0939.

GRNC Dinner and a Movie: Celebrate restaurant carry when it takes effect on October 1
by joining GRNC in Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte (Matthews),
Greensboro, Durham or Fayetteville. Where? Texas Roadhouse restaurants,
which have already promised they will not post against concealed carry.
For info: DinnerandMovie@GRNC.org or call 877-282-0939.

Support GRNC!

  • Support GRNC: GRNC needs your support to help combat the efforts against your rights as gun owners. Join or renew your membership!  http://www.grnc.org/join-grnc/join-grnc-online
  • SIGN THE “STOP THE GUN BAN” PETITION: Go to: www.StopTheGunBan.org Whether or not you have already signed it, forward this to others and tell them to sign it too.
Uncategorized

CCRKBA On Signing Of Arms Trade Treaty

September 26, 2013 by 4 Comments

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, like the NRA, was dismissive of the signing of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty by Secretary of State John Kerry in New York today.


Their release is below:

BELLEVUE, WA – Secretary of State John Kerry may have signed the controversial United Nations Arms Trade Treaty today, but tomorrow it begins gathering dust in the U.S. Senate, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms predicted.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted that Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) has already warned Kerry that the treaty “will collect dust alongside the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Kyoto Protocol, to name a few, which have all been rejected by the U.S. Senate and the American people.”

“If Secretary Kerry and President Barack Obama pursue this farce,” Gottlieb warned, “the full fury of American firearms owners could come back to haunt them. Second Amendment sovereignty is not up for grabs, and we will encourage our members and supporters to contact their senators about this treaty.”

For the ATT to be ratified requires two-thirds confirmation by the Senate. But Gottlieb noted, as did Sen. Inhofe in his letter to Secretary Kerry, that 53 senators have already indicated they will reject any treaty that threatens the Second Amendment.

“If this was all theatrics by the Obama administration,” Gottlieb observed, “the president and Secretary Kerry need better script writers. And we will remind the administration of the warning it received Wednesday morning from Sen. Bob Corker, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate has not given its advice or consent on this treaty, so ‘the Executive branch is not authorized to take any steps to implement the treaty.’ How does that look to the world when an administration can’t get one of its pet projects approved on Capitol Hill?

“We know that anti-gunners have this ‘thing’ about symbolic victories,” he concluded, “but just how much of a symbol is it if the treaty is filed in the dust bin? After Fast and Furious, Benghazi and Syria, that’s just what the Obama administration needs, another symbol of international ineptitude.”

Uncategorized

NRA Statement On Kerry Signing The Arms Trade Treaty

September 25, 2013 by 3 Comments

The National Rifle Association has been a staunch opponent of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty from the beginning. They issued the response below to the signing of the treaty on behalf of the United States by Secretary of State John F. Kerry. As Bitter noted in a post on the signing, elections have consequences. Prior administrations not only opposed the talks which led to the Arms Trade Treaty, they actively refused to participate in them. That was then and this is now – unfortunately.

Fairfax, Va. – Today, Secretary of State John Kerry signed the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty on behalf of the Obama administration. The National Rifle Association strongly opposes this treaty, which is a clear violation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The Obama administration is once again demonstrating its contempt for our fundamental, individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “This treaty threatens individual firearm ownership with an invasive registration scheme. The NRA will continue working with the United States Senate to oppose ratification of the ATT.”

A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate is already on record in opposition to ratification of the ATT. On March 23, the Senate adopted an amendment to its FY 2014 Budget Resolution, offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), that establishes a deficit-neutral fund for “the purpose of preventing the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.” This amendment is in addition to the previous efforts of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) to pass concurrent resolutions opposing the treaty in their respective chambers.

Notably, the ATT includes “small arms and light weapons” within its scope, which covers firearms owned by law-abiding citizens. Further, the treaty urges recordkeeping of end users, directing importing countries to provide information to an exporting country regarding arms transfers, including “end use or end user documentation” for a “minimum of ten years.” Each country is to “take measures, pursuant to its national laws, to regulate brokering taking place under its jurisdiction for conventional arms.” Data kept on the end users of imported firearms is a de-facto registry of law-abiding firearms owners, which is a violation of federal law. Even worse, the ATT could be construed to require such a registry to be made available to foreign governments.

“These are blatant attacks on the constitutional rights and liberties of every law-abiding American. The NRA will continue to fight this assault on our fundamental freedom,” concluded Cox.

Uncategorized

Kerry To Sign Arms Trade Treaty Today

September 25, 2013 by

Secretary of State John Kerry, the vaguely French looking former Senator from Massachusetts who, by the way, served in Vietnam, will sign the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty this morning in New York. The State Department release on Kerry’s schedule notes that it will be at 9:45am this morning.

The signing will be mostly symbolic as the treaty will require 67 senators to vote for ratification. There are currently 53 senators on record, both Democrats and Republicans, as saying they are opposed to the treaty. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) said in a letter to Kerry that this treaty “will collect dust alongside the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Kyoto Treaty, to name a few, which have all been rejected by the U.S. Senate and the American people.”

I think Inhofe is correct. However, by signing the Arms Trade Treaty, Kerry now makes it possible for the Senate in the future to consider its ratification. Without the United States signing the treaty, it would never come up for consideration.

The full text of the Arms Trade Treaty in various UN approved languages can be found here.

Uncategorized

Hey, JayG! Did You See This?

September 25, 2013 by

For those that haven’t heard, well-known gun blogger JayG of MArooned is leaving the Volksrepublik of Massachusetts for the Commonwealth of Virginia to take a job there. Jay is leaving one commonwealth where gun rights have long been under attack for one that is currently in the good column.

However, if gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D) has his way, Virginia will become the next Colorado. And by this, I mean the pre-recall Colorado with magazine bans and universal background checks. McAuliffe wants to one-up Hickenlooper by also implementing a one-gun-a-month purchase restriction. Like Hickenlooper, he appears to be in Bloomberg’s pocket.

From McAuliffe’s campaign website:

Support common sense gun control measures
As Governor, Terry will support mainstream and majority supported gun control measures like universal background checks, limiting the size of magazines, and a return to the 1-gun-per-month rule. These measures respect Virginians’ right to bear arms while reducing gun violence.

 According to a poll published on Monday in the Washington Post, McAuliffe is leading Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) by 47 to 39 percent among likely voters. Cuccinelli has been a good supporter of gun rights and this has been recognized by the gun prohibitionists.

JayG better hurry up down to the Old Dominion as I think his vote may well be needed.

As to McAuliffe, I think the Virginia’s state motto applies – sic semper tyrannis.

Uncategorized

I’m Just Shocked!

September 24, 2013 by

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a report on the background screening of the Navy Yard shooter. You may remember there have been many reports about his secret security clearance as well as his passing a NICS background check when he purchased his Remington 870 shotgun. There are also quite a number of reports of his run-in’s with law enforcement in both Washington State and Texas involving firearms as well as reports on his signs of mental illness.

Given all of this, how did he pass his security background checks to join the Navy as well as obtain a secret security clearance as a contractor? That is a question for which military officials are seeking answers.

To put it quite simply, he lied.

Last week, the Office of Personnel Management, the agency in charge of overseeing most federal background security checks, said USIS had conducted a complete investigation of Mr. Alexis, including information on the 2004 arrest.

On Monday, the agency said Mr. Alexis had turned in an incomplete security background form in 2007 that omitted information about the arrest as well as financial problems in his past. After uncovering the problems in the normal course of the examination, investigators asked the Seattle Police Department for information on Mr. Alexis. But the department refused, according to the OPM.

The Seattle Police Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

In the 2004 report, Mr. Alexis told Seattle police at the time he shot out a construction worker’s car tires in an “anger fueled” blackout because he believed the man had been mocking him.

But Mr. Alexis told a USIS investigator he had gotten into a parking dispute with construction workers near his Seattle home that escalated to a construction worker putting something into the gas tank of Mr. Alexis’s car. Mr. Alexis said he retaliated by “deflating” the man’s tires, but never mentioned that he did so by firing three shots into the car, according to a copy of the USIS investigation released by the Navy.

This, of course, doesn’t let the Navy off the hook for letting the shooter resign from the Navy with an honorable discharge with “a favorable rating”. His conduct had caused the Navy to reprimand him several times and they had tried to push him out. I can see letting him resign with an honorable discharge just to get rid of a problem. It is the bureaucratic way to deal with problems and there is less paperwork. However, granting him a “favorable rating” made him eligible to re-enlist in the military and probably facilitated his security clearance. As can be seen on the Navy’s NavPers Form 1070/615, an honorable discharge from the Naval Reserve could have been granted without making the seaman eligible for reenlistment.

The bottom line is that the clearance system failed in this case. More importantly, the mental health system in this country has changed in the last 30 or so years that probably the one thing that may have prevented the shootings in the first place – early intervention and involuntary commitment – is almost a thing of the past.

Uncategorized

Jumping The Gun On CCW In Illinois – A Warning

September 24, 2013 by 2 Comments



Despite the speculation by TTAG that Illinois is now a constitutional carry state with the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Aguilar v People, Thirdpower at Days of our Trailers has a warning about not to tempting fate.

Even though TTAG is claiming that IL is a ‘Constitutional Carry’ State, you can still get your @ss arrested.

If we find somebody carrying a weapon, we’ll likely write a report and hand it over to the state’s attorney and let him use the facts of the case to decide whether he wants to prosecute. If we feel it’s necessary, there’s a very good chance we’ll seize the weapon.”

Given that Thirdpower is a lifelong Illinoisian and is active in Illinois gun politics, I’m going with him on this one. You might beat the charge of unlawful use of a firearm but you’ll probably never see your gun again.

Uncategorized

Fire Mission From CalGuns Foundation

September 24, 2013 by 2 Comments

It’s time to help out friends in California. While many might write California off as a lost cause, it isn’t so long as you have groups like CalGuns, Cal-FFL, and the Firearms Policy Coalition fighting them.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) might also be known as Gov. Moonbeam but he is a gun owner and signed on to the amicus brief in support of the McDonald case when he was the Attorney General.

So help out our friends in California and perhaps win a Benelli M4 while you are at it.

Works for me.

Oppose DOJ’s new anti-gun regulations NOW!

** GUN RIGHTS FIRE MISSION **


Write DOJ to OPPOSE new anti-gun regulations

 — less than 24 hours left to submit comments! —

WHAT: Send DOJ your written opposition to their proposed anti-gun regulations

WHEN: BEFORE 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 24, 2013.

WHY: Among other things, DOJ is trying to make “DROS
delays” permanent and remove its lawsuit liability through their
proposed regulations.

HOW: Use FPC’s fast, easy, and free TAKE ACTION contact form at https://www.firearmspolicy.org/the-issues/california/2013-2014/proposed-doj-regulation-11-ccr-4210-et-seq. A
letter to DOJ addressing these outrageous proposed regulations is
already built-in to the FPC TAKE ACTION contact form; however, you may
edit the text as you like to reflect your personal concerns.

PUBLIC HEARING: DOJ will hold a public hearing to
receive public comments on the proposed regulatory action at 1:00 p.m.
on September 24, 2013, at the Department of Water Resources Auditorium
located at 1416 9th Street, in Sacramento, California. The auditorium is
wheelchair accessible. At the hearing, any person may present oral or written comments
regarding the proposed regulatory action. DOJ requests, but does not
require, that persons making oral comments at the hearing also submit a written copy of their testimony.

Please send your letter
RIGHT NOW, then SHARE THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE to all of your pro-gun
family and friends. Post on Facebook & Twitter — help us get the
word out!


WIN a Benelli M4 by sending Gov. Brown a letter at DemandRights.com
Uncategorized

Billy Johnson – NRA News’ Newest Commentator

September 23, 2013 by

NRA News has added a new face to their stable of commentators. Joining Colion Noir, Dom Raso, and Natalie Foster is Billy Johnson. His goal is to get people to start looking at things and events in a different way. He has a YouTube channel called AmidsTheNoise.

In his first video for NRA News, Billy argues that policymakers have a mistaken focus on the tools of violence rather than the logic of violence. An example of this would be gang leaders. They got to be gang leaders by using violence to show that they were the meanest and baddest. Whether they used a Glock, a switchblade, or their fists to kill or maim their rivals is not the issue. The issue is that they were willing to use violence to achieve their aims.

Likewise rewarding social outcasts with instant celebrity or infamy after incidents like Aurora or Tucson has the effect of rewarding violence – even in mainstream society.

I look forward to more of Billy’s commentaries. I have embedded his first one below.