Month: March 2023

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Permitless Carry Passes Florida Senate

March 31, 2023 by 3 Comments

HB 543 – Public Safety passed a final vote in the Florida Senate yesterday and was ordered engrossed as of this 8:35am EDT today (March 31, 2023). The bill provides for permitless carry of concealed firearms. The open carry amendments that would have made it a true constitutional carry bill failed earlier.

The vote in the Senate to approve this bill was 27 aye, 13 nay. Earlier, the Florida House had approved the bill by a 76 aye to 32 nay margin.

The enrolled bill now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for his signature. He has indicated that he will sign it.

Congratulations to all those in Florida that have worked so hard to see this to completion. With the addition of Florida, over one-half of US states now allow permitless carry. This includes both the second and third largest states by population.

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Picture Of The Day

March 31, 2023 by 2 Comments

The picture of the day is of Speaker Tim Moore (R-NC) who is posing with the official copy of SB 41 signed and stamped with both “veto” and “override”. He looks like a happy camper. He and Senate President Phil Berger made North Carolina gun owners happy campers as well.

SB 41 is now officially known as SL 2023-8. SL stands for Session Law and the General Statues will be updated at the end of the session.

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ATF Is On It!

March 31, 2023 by 2 Comments

I just received an automated call from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It was to inform me that effective March 29th, the North Carolina pistol purchase permit was no longer acceptable as a NICS check substitute given the passage of SB 41 into law.

The message went on to say that existing permits issued before the date of repeal would no longer be accepted in lieu of the NICS check. I guess those prohibited persons who obtained a permit prior to becoming a prohibited are now out of luck.

I received this call because I hold a Curios and Relics FFL. However, as a collector, I am not required to fill out the Form 4473 for a sale nor am I required to do a NICS check. The ATF must have lumped anyone who held any sort of FFL into one big database for the call.

The bottom line is we can be assured that the bureaucrats at ATF are on it! That being said, they have not issued a revised letter advising FFLs that the pistol purchase permit is no longer qualifies as an alternative to a NICS check. The only “Brady letter” for NC on their site is from 1998.

UPDATE: BATFE is into the belt and suspenders approach. In addition to the phone call this morning, they also sent out this email.

This is an important message from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On November 13, 1998, ATF issued an Open Letter to All North Carolina Federal Firearms Licensees advising them that the North Carolina pistol purchase permit qualifies as an alternative to NICS. On March 29, 2023, North Carolina Senate Bill 41 overcame the North Carolina Governor’s veto and became law that same day. North Carolina Senate Bill 41 repeals GS 14-402, which required the pistol purchase permit to acquire a pistol from an FFL. Additionally, the North Carolina pistol purchase permit is no longer considered an approved NICS alternate permit.

Accordingly, effective March 29, 2023 , North Carolina pistol purchase permits – regardless of when issued – may not be used as an alternative to the NICS background check requirement.

North Carolina’s concealed handgun permits are unaffected by Senate Bill 41 and will continue to serve as an alternative to a NICS check requirement. Please contact your local ATF office if you have additional questions.

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Veto Overriden; Pistol Purchase Permit Repealed! (Updated)

March 30, 2023 by 2 Comments

The North Carolina House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to over-ride Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of SB 41. The vote was 71 aye, 46 nay, and 3 absent or not voting. The vote transcript has not been published as of this writing. I will update it later today when it is available.

SB 41 now goes into law. One of the everlasting stains of North Carolina’s segregationist, white surpremacist past is now erased. It only took 104 years. The Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit is now history.

Just as importantly, churches with attached private schools will be able to protect their congregations from those intent on doing evil. On the latter, the carrying of firearms is only allowed with church permission and only at times when students are not present including during extracurricular events.

I will be updating this post throughout the day with reactions.

UPDATE: The breakdown of the vote was finally posted yesterday. All 71 Republicans voted for the override. 46 Democrats voted no and 3 more had excused absences.

As I posted earlier, Carolina Forward wants Dems to eat their own. Interestingly, Rep. Cotham (D-Mecklenburg) says she had previously notified both the Speaker and Minority Leader she would be absent for a hospital procedure. Meanwhile, Rep. Brockman (D-Guilford) was reportedly being seen at an urgent care facility. Rep. Wray was an original sponsor of the repeal and it is thought this was his way of not voting “no”.

Rep. Willingham (D- Bertie, Edgecombe, & Martin) had previously voted for the bill and had said in reference to another bill that even with a veto he stuck by his vote. It is thought that knowing there would be two absences, he could vote no and be let off the hook by the Dems.

Bottom line, Speaker Tim Moore knew one way or another he had the votes going into yesterday morning.

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Stupidest Suggestion Of The Day

March 29, 2023 by

The North Carolina Democrats are all bent out of shape that the Republicans actually overrode a veto by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC). The veto override of SB 41 marks the first time a veto has been overridden in NC since 2018 and the first on a gun bill.

Kate Frauenfelder is the Communications Director for the North Carolina Democrat Party. Today she sent out a press release with the stupidest suggestion of the day. You can see it below. As A. P. Dillon, a blogger and reporter for North State News, opined on Twitter, “What an incredible “Um, hi – you all must be new here” moment.” I normally would have agreed but it seems that Ms. Frauenfelder actually graduated high school in North Carolina and obtained her degree in journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Any reporter who actually asked that question should be laughed out of the room. I can give you three reasons why.

Number one – he would have signed the bill.

Number two – he is a member of the Board of Directors of the NRA.

Number three – he came to prominence with his impassioned speech before the Greensboro City Council over banning gun shows at the Greensboro Coliseum.

I’m still shaking my head over this one.

UPDATE: Stupid should hurt.

An appropriate response would be to send Ms. Frauenfelder (kate@ncdp.org) a copy of the YouTube video with Mark Robinson’s “I Am The Majority” speech. Here is the link and you can send an email directly from YouTube. Imagine when she goes to check her email and finds it full of that video.

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Dems Eating Their Own Over SB 41 Veto Override

March 29, 2023 by

A group called Carolina Forward which claims to be non-partisan posted a tweet after the vote to override the veto of SB 41 passed. They are most upset that the veto override passed and that some Democrats were absent.

All three voted against SB 41 when it first came up in the House. Interestingly, Rep. Michael Wray (D-Halifax, Northampton, & Warren) was a sponsor of the standalone bill to repeal the pistol purchase permit.

Regardless of the self-description of themselves by Carolina Forward, their agenda reads like the Democrat’s platform. They call themselves “center-left” but that is stretching as I think AOC and “the squad” would feel right at home with them. Besides, if they are using Act Blue as their fundraising mechanism, that tells you all you need to know.

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One Down; One To Go On Veto Override

March 29, 2023 by

Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) vetoed SB 41 on Friday. SB 41 would have repealed the pistol purchase permit, allowed churches with schools to protect themselves, and provided for a statewide gun safe storage initiative.

Today, the North Carolina Senate voted to override the veto by a vote of 30 aye, 19 nay, 1 excused. Every Republican state senator was present and voted for the override.

It now goes to the NC House of Representatives where an override vote appears to be on the agenda. The fact that is on the agenda would indicate that at least one Democrat has committed to vote for the override. With the current rules of House, the Speaker can call for a vote at any time without any notification or putting it on the agenda.

You may want to call the three Democrats or email them thanking them for their vote for SB 41 and ask them to stick with their vote. GRNC has more info here.

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Shouldn’t The Killers Be The Ones Held Accountable?

March 29, 2023 by 2 Comments

I received the expected blood-dancing email from Everytown, the Demanding Moms, and their Young Pioneers (aka Students Demand Action) this afternoon. They are calling for accountability. And donations. Mostly donations.

We must hold the people who continue to enable gun violence accountable: The lawmakers who choose to exacerbate this crisis with only thoughts, prayers, and deadly legislation to further weaken our gun laws. The gun industry executives and gun traffickers who have flooded our communities with guns. The extremists who have pushed forward a violent agenda that we—and our children—are paying for with our lives.

I agree with accountability.

Accountability for those who demand gun free zones that make our children and grandchildren targets for killers. The killer chose the Covenant School as the backup after passing on a better defended location.

Accountability for those who decided a private school shouldn’t be assigned an armed school resource officer yet who would object to trained armed school staff.

Accountability for those politicians who veto bills that would allow churches with private schools to protect their congregations.

Accountability for prosecutors who give violent people a slap on the wrist or even a pass as opposed to prosecuting them. Perhaps three students at Michigan State would have been alive if a prosecutor had done his or her job.

Accountability for those in the media whose spin on anything involving guns and crime would make Josef Goebbels proud with its half-truths and lies.

It is the gun control industry and their allies in both media and politics who raise money off of tragedy who are the real villains in this story. While they have their own personal armed security, they will continue to fight to keep us, our children, and families defenseless. That is what is unforgiveable.

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A Tour Of The Morakniv Factory

March 25, 2023 by 3 Comments

I came across this video that commemorates the 130th anniversary of Morakniv. If you don’t know about the knives from Morakniv, you should. I have over a dozen in carbon, stainless, and their tri-laminated steel. My knives range from their birch handled carving knives to the Mora 2000 survival knife. They range in size from the little Eldris neck knife to the foot long professional knife with an eight inch blade. I probably bought my first Mora almost 30 years ago and I still have it.

The video below shows the making of the knife from stamping the steel through boxing up to be sent to retailers. The factory is in Mora, Sweden which is a small town about 300km northwest of Stockholm.

In my experience, these knives are some of the easiest to sharpen with their Scandy grind, are one of the best values, are made with high-quality Swedish steel, and are tough, long-lasting knives. I don’t know anywhere where you can get knives of this quality for these prices. The basic Mora 511 carbon steel knife is $12 or so and the Mora Companion which comes in 11 colors is only $18 at Amazon (commission earned). These knives are an illustration of the concept that inexpensive doesn’t necessarily mean cheap.

If you want to learn more about the history of these knives and see some old catalogs, go to the Old Mora blog.