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Grass Roots North Carolina Refutes The NY Times Hit Piece On NC CHP Holders

February 12, 2012 by 2 Comments

Michael Luo of the New York Times wrote an article that claimed more than 2,400 people holding Concealed Handgun Permits from the State of North Carolina had criminal convictions. He says he came up with this number by comparing the names on the state’s database of CHP holders with criminal records.

Sean Sorrentino of An NC Gun Blog started an email dialog with Luo. If you have been reading Sean’s blog for any amount of time, you know he has been tracking the growth of concealed handgun permits in North Carolina and he has been following the background of those arrested for criminal misuse of firearms. As such, he has as good a feel for this as anyone and Luo’s article struck him as wrong. So he contacted Luo and asked for the data.

After much back and forth, Luo told Sean he’d give the data to either a legislator or to NC law enforcement officials. This was the opening Sean was looking for and he contacted Paul Valone of GRNC seeking a friendly legislator to call Luo’s bluff. The bluff was called with the result you’d expect.

So what do you say to an author who refuses a State legislator the data needed to do his job? When that legislator asked for the data, with a mind to crafting new and better legislation along with demanding answers from the State Bureau of Investigation, Luo refused.

Paul Valone, President of GRNC, has now responded to Luo’s accusations with a point by point rebuttal. Somehow I doubt the “paper of making it up” as SayUncle calls it will respond. They are good about making claims about gun owners but not so good about making corrections.

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GRNC Alert For Garner, NC

November 19, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Town of Garner (North Carolina) is holding a meeting this coming Tuesday to discuss amending their local park ordinance to comply with HB 650. Grass Roots North Carolina believes that they will do the bare minimum possible and will attempt to make it as restrictive as the new law allows. Because of this, they have sent out this alert. Sean Sorrentino of An NC Gun Blog and a resident of Garner is heading up the efforts there.

Garner Anti-Self Defense Ordinance

As we have noted recently, the town of Garner is currently considering the issue of their local park ordinances in light of HB 650 which will go into effect on Dec. 1. Recent communications with council members indicate that they intend to offer up the bare minimum mandated by the new law. Meaning they plan to post in the few areas they are allowed to under a weakening amendment which GRNC fought to strip from the law. This allows them to post “recreation” areas. Communications with Council Member Buck Kennedy takes a tone that he believes they are doing you a favor by extending the carry areas as they are required by the new law.

Kennedy seemed unmoved when a constituent asked him to consider the following scenario:

You will say, “well, parents could just sit outside the immediate playground area and be within the law.” I can just see it. “Sorry little Johnnie, Daddy can’t push you on the swing because he would face 6 months and a $500 fine if he did.” Or maybe “Oh, little Julie, I’m sorry you fell off the slide and broke your leg, but Mommy can’t come hold your hand over there until the ambulance comes because she’d go to jail. Drag yourself onto the other side of this sign so I can help you.”

There is also to consider the recent attempted kidnapping of a 3-year old from a Charlotte park. It would be revealed afterward that the criminal in this case had been arrested 102 times. The child’s mother was forced to wrestle the man to the ground in order save her son from an uncertain fate. Her gutsy actions resulted in the man’s 103rd arrest… and that is just in Mecklenburg County. Should a mother be forced to physically grapple with a male felon who has spent time in jail and could well be: 1) physically larger and stronger; 2) armed with a gun or knife; 3) drugged; 4) diseased from his time in prison and habitual drug use? All this to make those with an unreasonable fear of weapons in the hands of the law abiding feel better? Is this reasonable?

The Council of Garner may feel that the bare minimum is good enough but, gun owners want more than the bare minimum. Now it is up to you to attend the meeting and let them know this.

You will need to attend their next meeting on Tuesday, November 22. Contact Sean Sorrentino, who will be coordinating our efforts in Garner at sean@seansorrentino.com for more information.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:

Contact

You may email or call the following people and let them know in a respectful manner that you wish them to permit more than the minimum that they are legally required to:

Mayor Ronnie S. Williams – 919-773-4404; rwilliams@garnernc.gov
Mayor Protem Kathy Behringer – 919-772-3515; kbehringer@garnernc.gov
Council Member Ken Marshburn – 919-662-0902; kmarshburn@garnernc.gov
Council Member Jackie Johns, Sr. – 919-772-0929; jjohns@garnernc.gov
Council Member Gra Singleton – 919-772-0924; grantraceysingleton@earthlink.net
Council Member Buck Kennedy – 919-624-3696; bkennedy@garnernc.gov

Attend the Meeting

All citizens of Garner MUST ATTEND the meeting on November 22 at Garner Town Hall, Building B in the Council Meeting Room.

Bring polite but pointed signs with the themes that

  • Concealed handgun permit-holders have proven themselves responsible; and…
  • People should be able to protect their families.

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Citizens Committee Weighs In On S. 594 And Bateman

June 15, 2011 by

The open letter sent out this afternoon by Paul Valone has now been slightly rewritten and is joined in by Alan Gottlieb of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (and the head of the Second Amendment Foundation).

The CalGuns Foundation sent out a tweet to it followers this evening stating that Bateman v. Perdue is of national importance.

URGENT ACTION ALERT

ACT NOW TO PASS CASTLE DOCTRINE & PARKS CARRY

In the shell game characterizing the North Carolina legislative process, a modified HB 650 passed the Senate Judiciary II Committee today and heads for the floor for its Second and Third Readings, quite probably tomorrow. With the legislature likely to recess on Friday, time is short. YOU MUST RESPOND IMMEDIATELY.

In its current version, HB 650 contains Castle Doctrine, parks carry, enhanced concealed handgun reciprocity, improvements to our concealed handgun law, and far more.

Sadly, HB 650 – and your rights – face a threat not from legislators, but from the efforts of an organization ostensibly dedicated to defending the Second Amendment. Below is an open letter to North Carolina gun rights supporters – but equally vital to gun rights supporters everywhere – which explains the problem.

OPEN LETTER FROM PAUL VALONE AND ALAN GOTTLIEB:

IS SB 594 THE RIGHT BILL?

To: North Carolina Gun Rights Supporters

From: GRNC President F. Paul Valone

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb

Members of the NRA recently received postcards urging them to call NC Senate leadership in support of Senate Bill 594, described in the postcard as “an emergency powers bill [to] ensure that our Right to Keep and Bear Arms cannot be suspended” during declared states of emergency.

But while North Carolina’s state of emergency law is indeed a problem, SB 594 is the wrong solution. Worse, it seems to be a short-sighted effort by the NRA to grab credit for what some would have you believe to be a victory.

Why? Because it would render moot – and cause the dismissal – of crucial litigation to expand recognition of the Second Amendment in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is Bateman v. Perdue. Together with the Michael Bateman, Virgil Green, Forrest Minges, and the Second Amendment Foundation, GRNC is working with Alan Gura – the winner of DC v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago – the cases which led the Supreme Court to affirm the individual right to keep and bear arms.

Although GRNC has made numerous entreaties to NRA representatives to back the Bateman case, they have apparently fallen on deaf ears. Just as the NRA tried to derail the DC v. Heller decision in its early stages through its attempts to repeal the DC gun ban, now it apparently wants gun owners to regard GRNC – the state’s most vocal and effective gun rights organization – as somehow “anti-gun” for realizing that SB 594 is a short-sighted and misguided vehicle to advance gun rights.

Gun rights supporters have two choices:

Help the NRA achieve a narrow, short-sighted win by amending HB 650 or other gun bills to include language from SB 594, the now-dead “state of emergency” bill; or

Help Gura, SAF and GRNC expand the interpretation of the Second Amendment, which will not only render North Carolina’s state of emergency law unconstitutional, but will advance gun rights for everyone, everywhere.

Don’t support GRNC. Don’t support CCRKBA. Don’t support the NRA. SUPPORT THE SECOND AMENDMENT! And do so by helping Bateman v. Perdue expand your right to keep and bear arms.

Armatissimi e liberissimi,

F. Paul Valone

President, Grass Roots North Carolina

Alan M. Gottlieb

Chairman, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

If you agree with this – and I hope you will – and you live in North Carolina, here is what you need to do:

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

  • Immediately all your state senator and tell him to pass HB 650 without amendments of any kind – especially to oppose efforts to add the contents SB 594; and
  • Immediately e-mail all members of the NC Senate with the message above.

CONTACT INFORMATION

You may find your NC STATE representative by going here:

http://www.grnc.org/contact_reps.htm

To e-mail all members of the Senate, use the following addresses:

Austin.Allran@ncleg.net, Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net, Bob.Atwater@ncleg.net, Doug.Berger@ncleg.net, Phil.Berger@ncleg.net, Stan.Bingham@ncleg.net, Harris.Blake@ncleg.net, Dan.Blue@ncleg.net, Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net, Harry.Brown@ncleg.net, Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net, Debbie.Clary@ncleg.net, Daniel.Clodfelter@ncleg.net, Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net, Charlie.Dannelly@ncleg.net, Jim.Davis@ncleg.net, Don.East@ncleg.net, James.Forrester@ncleg.net, Linda.Garrou@ncleg.net, Thom.Goolsby@ncleg.net, Malcolm.Graham@ncleg.net, Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net, Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net, Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net, Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net, Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net, Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net, Clark.Jenkins@ncleg.net, Edward.Jones@ncleg.net, Ellie.Kinnaird@ncleg.net, Eric.Mansfield@ncleg.net, Floyd.McKissick@ncleg.net, Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net, Martin.Nesbitt@ncleg.net, Buck.Newton@ncleg.net, Louis.Pate@ncleg.net, Jean.Preston@ncleg.net, William.Purcell@ncleg.net, Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net, Gladys.Robinson@ncleg.net, David.Rouzer@ncleg.net, Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net, Dan.Soucek@ncleg.net, Josh.Stein@ncleg.net, Richard.Stevens@ncleg.net, Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net, Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.net, Don.Vaughan@ncleg.net, Michael.Walters@ncleg.net, Stan.white@ncleg.net

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

In sending e-mails, use the subject line: “Pass HB 650 without amendments”

Dear Senator:

I strongly urge you to vote for HB 650: “Amend Various Gun Laws/Castle Doctrine” and to oppose ANY AND ALL amendments to the bill, however well-intentioned they may appear. The present contents of HB 650 have been voted on — and passed – in various versions by both the Senate and House. The bill’s passage is long overdue.

Efforts to amend gun-related legislation to include the contents of SB 594: “Firearms/State of Emergency” are misguided and short-sighted. Such an amendment would render moot the Bateman lawsuit filed by numerous plaintiffs, including Grass Roots North Carolina and the Second Amendment Foundation, and argued by famed gun rights lawyer Alan Gura, to expand the US Supreme Court interpretation of the Second Amendment.

As always, I will be monitoring your actions via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts

Respectfully,

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An Open Letter From Paul Valone, President Of Grass Roots North Carolina

June 14, 2011 by 2 Comments

F. Paul Valone, President of Grass Roots North Carolina, just sent out this open letter regarding SB 594, HB 650, amendments, and the emergency powers gun ban. It shouldn’t come as surprise that I agree 100% with Paul on this if you have read this blog for more than a week.

I am a Life Member of both the National Rifle Association and of the Second Amendment Foundation. I also belong to Grass Roots North Carolina. As Paul says, this isn’t about the NRA or GRNC. I’d also add in the Second Amendment Foundation. It is about being smart and not-short sighted. We are in a Long War to regain our freedom and our God-given rights to protect ourselves and our families. We lost these rights bit by bit and now must win them back bit by bit. Among the tools we need to win are legal precedents. A case that gets mooted never becomes a precedent.

OPEN LETTER FROM PAUL VALONE:

IS SB 594 THE RIGHT BILL?

To: North Carolina Gun Rights Supporters

From: GRNC President F. Paul Valone

Members of the NRA recently received postcards urging them to call NC Senate leadership in support of Senate Bill 594, described in the postcard as “an emergency powers bill [to] ensure that our Right to Keep and Bear Arms cannot be suspended” during declared states of emergency.

But while North Carolina’s state of emergency law is indeed a problem, SB 594 is the wrong solution. Worse, it seems to be a short-sighted effort by the NRA to grab credit for what some would have you believe to be a victory.

Why? Because it would render moot – and cause the dismissal – of crucial litigation to expand recognition of the Second Amendment in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is Bateman v. Perdue. Together with the Michael Bateman, Virgil Green, Forrest Minges, and the Second Amendment Foundation, GRNC is working with Alan Gura – the winner of DC v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago – the cases which led the Supreme Court to affirm the individual right to keep and bear arms.

Although GRNC has made numerous entreaties to NRA representatives to back the Bateman case, they have apparently fallen on deaf ears. Just as the NRA tried to derail the DC v. Heller decision in its early stages through its attempts to repeal the DC gun ban, now it apparently wants gun owners to regard GRNC – the state’s most vocal and effective gun rights organization – as somehow “anti-gun” for realizing that SB 594 is a short-sighted and misguided vehicle to advance gun rights.

Gun rights supporters have two choices:

* Help the NRA achieve a narrow, short-sighted win by amending HB 650 or other gun bills to include language from SB 594, the now-dead “state of emergency” bill; or

* Help Gura, SAF and GRNC expand the interpretation of the Second Amendment, which will not only render North Carolina’s state of emergency law unconstitutional, but will advance gun rights for everyone, everywhere.

Don’t support GRNC. Don’t support the NRA: SUPPORT THE SECOND AMENDMENT! And do so by helping Bateman v. Perdue expand your right to keep and bear arms.

Armatissimi e liberissimi,

F. Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina

I would also urge you to read Sean Sorrentino’s post that went up this afternoon entitled More Respectful Disagreement. It is an excellent post and I think his ideas are on the mark.

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Alan Gura on Strategic Civil Rights Litigation

October 24, 2010 by 1 Comment

This is a speech that Alan Gura gave at the Grass Roots North Carolina Gala for Gun Rights. The event was held in Charlotte, NC on Friday, May 14th. It was held concurrently with the NRA Annual Meeting.

I was in attendance at this dinner. I learned more about the entire process of carefully selecting litigants and cases in those 15 minutes than I had ever before.

To put this into perspective, I took two semesters of Constitutional Law as an undergraduate from a professor who lived and breathed the constitution. I also spent 3 1/2 years in a PhD program in Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill before leaving with a wife but no degree. It is one thing to learn about the courts and the Constitution in a classroom. It is an entirely different thing to hear the inside story of the process from a lawyer who has argued – and won – two major precedent setting cases before the Supreme Court.

If you want to learn how pro-gun civil rights litigation should be done, take a few minutes and listen to this YouTube video.

H/T Gene Hoffman

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Civil Rights for Wounded Veterans

October 15, 2010 by

Grass Roots North Carolina just released this video regarding gun rights for veterans. It features a speech by Senator Richard Burr of NC on his bill that would have protected the rights of wounded veterans. He gave it at GRNC’s Gun Rights Gala held in Charlotte this past May.

In light of the Second Amendment Foundation’s newest lawsuit, the timing is impeccable. And yes, that is Alan Gura sitting to Burr’s right on the dais.

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For North Carolina Voters

October 6, 2010 by

Grass Roots North Carolina and its GRNC Political Victory Fund have published their 2010 Remember in November Voters Guide. One of the key things to point out about this guide is that it does not endorse any candidate. Rather it surveys candidates and analyzes their voting records to see how they stand on gun rights.

As Paul Valone notes in his Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner column:

GRNC’s “Remember in November” candidate evaluation system factors survey scores, gun-related voting records, bill sponsorship and other measures into a spreadsheet which estimates the percentage of the time a given candidate can be expected to concur with a control group of GRNC’s Life and Benefactor members.

A candidate who agrees at least 90% of the time gets four stars (****), 80% gets three stars (***), 70% gets two stars (**), 60% gets one star (*), and an estimated agreement of less than 60% gets zero stars (0).

This system does not give an automatic advantage to incumbents like the NRA’s ranking system. They don’t make any deals with candidates for better ratings nor will they give a candidate a better rating in exchange for a donation.

The following is a key to reading their ratings from the GRNC website:

PAR/DIS: Candidate’s party and district. “D”=Democrat, “L”=Libertarian, “R”=Republican. Number is district number.

SURVEY: The percentages listed depict agreement between a given candidate and our control group (e.g. an “80” under the “Survey” section means 80% of the candidate’s answers agreed with the Conservative Gun Owners). “NR”means the candidate failed to return the survey.

VOTE: Votes are more accurate than surveys and should be given more attention in determining candidate stance. Where available, this column indicates how often candidates’ votes agree with the control group of gun owners (e.g. a “90” under “Voting Record” indicates candidate’s voting record agrees 90% of the time with what was desired by control group).

OTHER: Derived from evaluations by other gun groups, bill sponsorship, etc.

EVAL: The evaluation is not a rating. It estimates percentage of time candidate is expected to agree with the Conservative Gun Owners.

GRNCRIN2010 District Sort 1