North Carolina General Assembly

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Omnibus Gun Reform Bill Introduced In North Carolina

February 14, 2019 by 1 Comment

House Bill 61 – Omnibus Gun Changes – was introduced into the North Carolina House of Representatives yesterday. The primary sponsors of the bill are Rep. Larry Pittman (R- Cabarrus and Rowan), Rep. Larry Potts (R- Davidson), and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R- Beaufort and Craven).

The most salient thing this bill does is to reintroduce permitless concealed carry into North Carolina. As open carry of firearms is a constitutional right in the state, this bill would extend it to concealed carry of firearms. Concealed Handgun Permits would still be available and the bill has language that encourages people to obtain them if they plan to travel out of state or want to facilitate the purchase of a firearm.

The bill would also make it an infraction as opposed to a misdemeanor to carry concealed on posted private property. It would remain a misdemeanor to carry while one has alcohol or a controlled substance in his or her bloodstream. Exceptions are made for controlled substances that have been prescribed and are being taken in therapeutic amounts.

Much of the bill just reiterates where one can or cannot carry a firearm such as courthouses, the grounds of the Legislative Buildings, or the Executive Mansion. It goes on to state that one can carry open or concealed at state rest stops and state parks.

Finally, the bill orders the State Board of Education to develop an elective course on comprehensive firearms safety in consultation with law enforcement agencies and “firearms associations”. This course would be an elective to facilitate the learning of STEM principles. The bill also orders the State Board of Election to develop another elective course on wildlife conservation based upon the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Consultation for the course development would be with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, the Division of Marine Fisheries, and the Wildlife Management Institute.

The full text of the bill can be found here.

H. 61 is similar to H. 746 which was the last sessions’ bill that authorized permitless carry. As you may remember, it passed the House in 2017 but stalled in the State Senate when the spineless Republican leadership failed to even schedule hearings of the bill. Ostensibly the Republicans wanted to preserve their super-majority. Given the 2018 election results, that was a failure on their part as they lost their super-majority anyway.

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We Don’t Want To Be California

June 3, 2018 by 2 Comments

With apologies to my good friends in the gun rights movement from California, we don’t want to be you. You have things we in North Carolina just don’t want and this includes your California Handgun Roster. This should be patently obvious to every legislator, Democrat or Republican, in the North Carolina General Assembly but sadly it is not.

Representatives Verla Insko (D-Orange), Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), and Marcia Morey (D-Durham) have introduced HB 1060 which would establish a handgun roster for North Carolina. Actually, it goes further and straight out adopts the California Handgun Roster in its totality.

Development; Prohibition. – The Department shall develop a roster of handguns
determined not to be unsafe based off the California Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale.
Except as provided in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, it is unlawful for any person, firm,
or corporation to (i) manufacture, sell, give, loan, import, or otherwise transfer a handgun that is
not listed on the roster as of January 1 of the calendar year in which the handgun is to be sold,
given, loaned, imported, or otherwise transferred or (ii) own or possess a handgun that is not
listed on the roster as of January 1 of the applicable calendar year, unless the person, firm, or
corporation lawfully owned or possessed the handgun prior to that date.

It goes without saying that this is nothing but a political stunt by these anti-gun Democrats as the General Assembly has a Republican super-majority. While I am pissed at the Republican leadership for dragging their feet on permitless concealed carry, I am reasonably sure that they won’t let any gun control bill like this see the light of day.

Of the three representatives, only Pricey Harrison is a North Carolinian born and bred. Insko was born in Arkansas and grew up in California while Morey is from Illinois and educated there. Morey, it should be noted, was appointed and not elected to the House as she replaced a representative who had died. Of note about Harrison, she is the great-granddaughter of Julian Price who founded the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company which through mergers is now known as Lincoln Financial. Her grandparents were well-known philantropists in Greensboro. My point is that Harrison grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth and somewhere along the way adopted the leftist orientation that many of those who never had to struggle seem to adopt.

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HB 1039 – North Carolina’s School Self-Defense Act Introduced

June 3, 2018 by 1 Comment

House Bill 1039 – School Self-Defense Act – has been introduced into the North Carolina House of Representatives. The bill will have a formal unveiling at a press conference to be held this coming Tuesday at 10:30am in the Legislative Building. The authors of this bill include many pro-gun legislators. Moreover, they sought the input of Grass Roots North Carolina in their drafting of the bill.

From the GRNC Alert:

PRESS CONFERENCE:
SCHOOL
SELF-DEFENSE ACT
Children will only be safe when adults are permitted to protect
them …

This Tuesday, the sponsors of the “School Self-Defense Act” (HB 1039)
will be publicly introducing the bill, and
you’re invited. GRNC was involved in creating this bill as well as
directing input to the offices of the Speaker and the House Rules Chair,
and
we’re excited about its introduction. This is GRNC’s answer to all of the counterproductive, and worse, gun-grabbing
“solutions” proposed by the left.

We all have a
stake (an understatement) in protecting school children, so GRNC and the
sponsors
of this bill would like for those closest to the issue, parents and
particularly teachers to attend this unveiling. Parents and
especially teachers, please attend this press conference.

HB 1039

This bill, sponsored by Representatives Mark Brody, John Blust, George Cleveland, Larry Pittman and Michael Speciale,
would allow certain members of
school faculty or staff to carry a handgun on school grounds to respond
quickly to acts of violence and imminent threats of violence.

Finally, a few
courageous legislators are stepping outside of the circular rhetoric and are proposing a practical and effective solution that
will actually protect the children.

Calling All Teachers and Parents

It is very important that you attend this press conference. Seeing you there will help the General Assembly members recognize
that the people are serious about this, and your presence may even help the politicians develop spines. Please see below for
details.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

  • EMAIL THE SPEAKER AND THE RULES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN. Use the copy/paste details provided under ‘Deliver This
    Message    ‘ to insist on a hearing for this bill.

  • ATTEND TUESDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE: As soon as you can, please contact GRNC at this email address,
    directorofdevelopment@grnc.org, and let us know you’re
    coming    .     More details below.

    This
    Tuesday, June 5, at 10:30 AM, meet GRNC representatives here:

    Legislative Building
    Printed Bills Office
    16 W. Jones Street

    Raleigh, NC 27601

    A couple
    of notes:
    It’s probably best to arrive in Raleigh by 10:00 AM to make sure you find parking. Please “dress for
    the press.” Professional attire preferred. Firearms are not allowed on the grounds of the General Assembly.
DELIVER THIS
MESSAGE
Send to: 
Tim.Moore@ncleg.net; David.Lewis@ncleg.net

Suggested Subject: “The
School Self-Defense Act Must Receive a Hearing”  

 
Dear Speaker Moore and Chairman Lewis:

I am writing to insist on a hearing for the “School Self-Defense Act” (HB
1039).
I was quite elated when I heard
that several courageous legislators have stepped forward to develop a
practical and effective solution to the school safety issues we are
currently facing. It’s about time we stepped out of the endless cycle of
rhetoric,
and took actual steps to defend our children. This bill, HB 1039, does
just that. 


Due to the potentially imminent
nature of this problem, time is short. Please do not position yourself
as the one
standing between school children and their safety. Rather, make sure the
School Self-Defense Act receives a hearing immediately. NC Parents and
Teachers need this, school children need it even more, and that’s why
I’m insisting on it.


I will be monitoring your actions on this issue through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina. 

Respectfully,
Uncategorized

GRNC Alert About Legislative School Safety Meeting

March 19, 2018 by

As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the meeting on Wednesday of the NC Joint Legislative Committee on School Safety, here is an alert from Grass Roots North Carolina with more information and a request to email committee members if you can’t attend.

HELP DEVELOP NC’S SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN
Wednesday, state legislators are hearing arguments that will inform life-and-death decisions regarding school security. Please be there … 
This Meeting Needs Your Voice
At the state legislature, the House Select Committee on School Safety will be meeting on Wednesday at 9:00 AM. There may be opportunities for public comments, and it is critical that this not be a one-sided discussion. We all know that the anti-gun-rights crowd will have people there to demand policies that will only make things worse. Due to the deadly serious nature of this topic, ineffective, feel-good schemes cannot be allowed to take hold. Please make every effort to attend these meetings. Below, find details on the upcoming meetings.

Gun-free Zones: the Psychotic-Killer Loophole
The most effective way to reduce mass public shootings is for our elected officials to wise up and eliminate dangerous gun-free zones (GFZs). Documented evidence tells us that criminals and psychotics carefully choose GFZs to commit their heinous acts, because they know they will not be met with timely armed resistance.

All but two of U.S. mass shootings since 1950 have occurred in so-called
“gun-free” zones.
That’s 98%!
Along with improved security provisions, such as fewer unlocked entrances and generally beefed up security, the most effective way to protect school children is to proclaim that any attack will likely be met with rapid armed resistance from an unpredictable source; that source would be teachers and other school personnel. 

Remove the Shackles
Of course, teachers who do not want to carry defensive weapons should not be required to. However, the shackles must be removed from those willing to mount effective resistance should the worst occur. Some seem very concerned about teachers using weapons during a dire emergency, but consider the alternative: bullets flying in only one direction and resulting in the deaths of many innocent and helpless people. Any objection to evening those odds seems entirely unreasonable. Let’s demand that legislators close the psychotic-killer loophole!



IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
  • EMAIL THE REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE MEMBERS: CLICK HERE to generate one of two email messages, and then CLICK HERE to send an email to the other half of the committee Republicans. After each click, check your email program. An email should have been generated for you. Simply add you name to the bottom and hit ‘send.’ 
(This ‘click’ method likely won’t work with gmail. Please use the delivery method/information listed under ‘Deliver This Message‘ if using gmail).
    If an email was not generated automatically, or wasn’t generated properly, send the email using the copy/paste email list and the copy/paste text provided below, under ‘Deliver This Message.’
  • ATTEND THE SCHOOL SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING: It’s critical that the public be involved in these meetings, especially because it’s the safety of the citizenry’s own children that is being debated. Practical and effective solutions from concerned citizens like you must be discussed, and ought to dominate the conversation. But without you there to speak, or at least to support the speakers by your presence, that may not happen. Please attend. Find the meeting details below. 
MEETING DETAILS:
WHAT: House Select Committee on School Safety
WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 9:00 AM (arrive an hour early if possible)
WHERE:
Legislative Office Building, Rm. 643
300 N. Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC
(directions: https://www.ncleg.net/help/directions.html)
   
NOTES: Dress for the press. Please dress professionally with no inflammatory slogans or the like on clothing.
  Arrive early. To deal with any parking issues, and to make sure you get a seat. Arriving at least one hour early is recommended.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Copy/Paste email List(s): 
Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net, Bill.Brawley@ncleg.net, Brenden.Jones@ncleg.net, Chris.Malone@ncleg.net, Cody.Henson@ncleg.net, Craig.Horn@ncleg.net, Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net, David.Lewis@ncleg.net, Donna.White@ncleg.net, Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net, Harry.Warren@ncleg.net, Holly.Grange@ncleg.net, Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net, Jason.Saine@ncleg.net, Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net,

Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net, John.Bell@ncleg.net, John.Faircloth@ncleg.net, John.Torbett@ncleg.net, Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net, Justin.Burr@ncleg.net, Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net, Larry.Strickland@ncleg.net, Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net, Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net, Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net, Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net, Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net, Ted.Davis@ncleg.net

*Due to the limitations of some email programs and some spam filtering systems, it may be best to send this email in multiple groups. Use the copy/paste emails above, as separated into groups, to send the message to the respective set of recipients.
Suggested Subject: 
“For School Safety: End Gun-Free Zones”  
Dear Committee Member:

I am writing today in reference to your service on the House Select Committee on School Safety.

Since the recent disturbing events in Florida, all the usual gun-control voices have called for all the usual ineffective and unconstitutional schemes. None of these useless and ominous notions are acceptable, and I insist that you not lend them credence during your upcoming committee meetings. I do expect you to discuss school security concepts that are actually effective and will truly result in the protection of school children.

Removing the shackles from school employees who have concealed handgun permits would be the simplest and most effective solution. The legislature could do this almost immediately by removing the dangerous gun-free zone (GFZ) status from school buildings and grounds. Teachers and other school staff are no danger to students. If they were, we wouldn’t allow them unfettered, daily access to our children. Yet, the threat of swift armed resistance from an unpredictable source is a highly effective deterrent. This is why a full 98% of all mass public shooting since 1950 have occurred in so-called “gun-free” zones. Should the worst occur, teachers defending their students with deadly force is not such a terrible thing when you imagine the alternative. Indeed, no imagination is necessary, as recent events have shown us exactly what the alternative looks like.

A large number of teachers are already willing and ready for classroom carry. A recent Elon University Poll of North Carolina teachers (which skewed heavily Democrat) revealed that roughly 20% of teachers are open to the idea of concealed handguns in the classroom. Consider that the number of every day citizens who legally carry a gun in our state is something less than 10%. This means the number of teachers willing to consider classroom carry is at least twice the number in the general population who already carry a handgun. This is great news, and further evidence that dangerous GFZs have run their course. 

Our children’s very lives are at stake. I demand that your time on the School Safety committee be used to consider and implement only practical and effective policies. I will be monitoring your actions on this matter through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully, 

Uncategorized

NC School Safety Committee’s First Meeting

March 19, 2018 by

The North Carolina Joint Legislative Committee on School Safety will have its first meeting this Wednesday in Raleigh. Here are some of the details:


What:
 
The School Safety Committee’s first meeting


Where:
 
Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh.


When:
  Wednesday, March 21st at 9am to
Noon, lunch then resume at 2pm

I can assure you that those opposed to allowing teachers to make the choice to be armed will be there.

The Bloomberg-funded North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (sic) is organizing its volunteers to be there. While there is no mention of a pre-hearing preparation session, I wouldn’t be surprised if one is planned so as to coordinate their arguments for making children less safe in the name of safety. You can also be assured that they will fill the room with people wearing orange or red t-shirts with their slogans on it.

The NEA’s NC affiliate, North Carolina Association of Educators, has come out against allowing teachers to be armed according to ABC Channel 11 Raleigh. I fully expect their lobbyists to be there.

The North Carolina Association of Educators argues teachers want to be armed with books and technology, not guns.


“It’s a dangerous prospect to put out there and we would surely hope that the General Assembly would not even entertain that idea of arming teachers in North Carolina, but we will fight back if it does come forward,” said NCAE President Mark Jewell.

As Tom Gresham made clear on this past Sunday’s Gun Talk Radio, sitting back is no longer a viable option. We need to show up – in shirts and ties – and make the case for allowing teachers who choose to be to be armed. If we don’t, our children and grandchildren will continue to be at risk in their officially gun-free zones. Those who oppose allowing teachers and administrators being armed will be there with emotional arguments, extraneous examples, and their orange/red t-shirts.

We may have the better solutions and arguments but they are better at packing hearings with their supporters. They understand optics better than we do. They and their media allies will run with that.

So, if you can be in Raleigh this coming Wednesday, please attend this meeting. To steal an argument from the gun prohibitionists, do it for the children!

Uncategorized

Ludicrous Posturing

March 16, 2018 by 6 Comments

It is like little kids posturing on the school yard. One kid says something and the other kid says, “Yeah? Well, I did that and this too!” So it is with politicians and firearms especially if they have D after their name.

The latest extreme example of this comes from my home state of North Carolina. Rep. Rodney Moore (R-Mecklenburg) says he’ll introduce a bill to raise the legal age to purchase a rifle to age 21.

Here is his rationale as reported by WRAL:

Rep. Rodney Moore said he didn’t need to look any further than the faces of the victims of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to know change was necessary.


“[They’re] very tragic examples of where we’ve become as a society in letting weapons of war be distributed on our streets,” Moore said.

 His bill would per the usual exempt law enforcement, firefighters, and members of the military.

You are probably saying, “So what! Lots of people have said they want to raise the age to 21.”

Ah, but it gets better.

Penalties for using rifles to commit a crime in places like a school or public building would increase and the law would require a 90-day waiting period to purchase guns.

“We need to go through a thorough criminal background check. We need to do a mental evaluation and that is why we need the waiting period,” Moore said.

In a statement of extreme irony, Moore concludes by saying he supports the Second Amendment.

Moore said he is a supporter of the Second Amendment, but does not feel his proposal violates anybody’s rights.


“What it is doing is enhancing the safety of that particular amendment,” he said. “When the Second Amendment was written into the Constitution, the founding fathers had no idea how technology, how weapons would change.”

 Raise the age to 21, add a 90-day waiting period, insist on a mental evaluation, AND say you are doing it to enhance the “safety” of the Second Amendment. In terms of political posturing that is going to be hard to beat.

Uncategorized

Firearms Restraining Orders In NC? No, Thank You!

February 23, 2018 by

Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) who was appointed to fill an empty seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives is proposing the establishment of firearms restraining orders a’la California. Though Morey is a former judge, it seems she sees no problem in adopting something flies in the face of due process.

Grass Roots North Carolina sent out an alert on this yesterday asking that gun rights supporters email every Republican in the NC House and demand an end to this.

From GRNC:

GUN CONFISCATION
COURTS TO BE PROPOSED
You read that right. Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham), a former judge, whose April appointment to the NC House filled a vacant seat, is looking to turn North Carolina into California—but not regarding sunshine and fad diets. In short, Morey will be proposing the establishment of “firearm restraining orders” (FROs) in our state. An FRO would be issued as a result of an “exparte” (emergency) hearing, where a judge can authorize the seizing of a private citizen’s guns where no crime has been proven (no guilty verdict delivered), and in fact, even where no arrest has taken place. Most likely, the proceedings will be allowed to take place even in the absence of the accused. This means the accused citizen cannot face his accusers, nor defend himself through counsel or otherwise. This is a serious violation of fundamental Constitutional due process rights.

A First Amendment Analogy
One could liken an FRO hearing, and subsequent confiscation, to accusing a reporter of so-called “hate speech,” and then, once the accusation is made, an emergency hearing is held without the presence of the accused reporter. The hearing could result in a ten-day gag order being placed on the reporter, barring the reporter from speaking (or reporting) until a primary hearing. So, the reporter’s First Amendment rights are suspended—absent any due process! In the case of Second Amendment rights, even if the accused’s firearms are returned after ten days, there is nothing to prevent the police from having registered them with the BATFE. Moreover, the accused will still be out thousands of dollars spent on the ensuing legal defense—that is, only if the accused can afford it in the first place.

No Pretense, Just Straight-up Confiscation
FROs are not a foot in the confiscatory door. There is no pretense here. FROs blatantly and aggressively kick that door down, and once FROs are in place, the valid reasons for establishing an FRO against an individual will surely loosen. At first, perhaps close family members and a few others very close to a person may be able to point a finger and “report” him. That’s bad enough, but be sure, the already Orwellian rules surrounding FROs will surely expand. It’s likely that, eventually,virtually anyone in a person’s sphere will be able to accuse a person and begin the unconstitutional process of having the accused’s legally owned firearms forcibly confiscated. Does this sound like a free country to you, a free state?

Will Republicans Protect the Citizenry?
As of now, we don’t know how the Republican majority in Raleigh will react when asked to establish a gun confiscation mechanism. We do know that there is always danger that politicians will stick a finger in the air and just “go with the flow,” as the anti-gun crowd aggressively pushes to not “let a crisis go to waste.” There is real danger here. We need to inform our representatives that we will not allow them to rescind our Constitutional due process rights. Free, law-abiding citizens are to remain free, and we will not tolerate being punished for the crimes of another.

Below, see how you can contact your representatives to let them know you won’t tolerate the establishment of extra-Constitutional laws in our state.



IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
    • EMAIL REPUBLICANS IN THE NC HOUSE: Click here,then here, and then here. Check your default email program after clicking each link. Each time, an email should have been automatically generated for you. Simply add your name to the bottom and hit “send.” If the email(s) were not generated, or were not generated properly, simply use the copy/paste email lists provided below, and the copy/paste text provided under ‘Deliver This Message.’
  • PHONE YOUR NC REPRESENTATIVE: Use this link to find your representative. Tell him or her that you expect them to actively and vocally stand against any legislation that would establish extra-Constitutional “Firearms Restraining Orders,” kangaroo courts setup to strip citizens of gun rights without due process.
CONTACT INFO
Republican NC House copy/paste email *list(s)
Jay.Adams@ncleg.net; Dean.Arp@ncleg.net; John.Bell@ncleg.net; Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.net; John.Blust@ncleg.net; Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net; Beverly.Boswell@ncleg.net; John.Bradford@ncleg.net; Bill.Brawley@ncleg.net; William.Brisson@ncleg.net; Mark.Brody@ncleg.net; Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net; Justin.Burr@ncleg.net; Mike.Clampitt@ncleg.net; George.Cleveland@ncleg.net; Jeff.Collins@ncleg.net; Debra.Conrad@ncleg.net; Kevin.Corbin@ncleg.net; Ted.Davis@ncleg.net; Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net; Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net; Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net; Andy.Dulin@ncleg.net;Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net;   John.Faircloth@ncleg.net

Carl.Ford@ncleg.net; John.Fraley@ncleg.net; Holly.Grange@ncleg.net; Destin.Hall@ncleg.net; Kyle.Hall@ncleg.net; Jon.Hardister@ncleg.net; Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net; Cody.Henson@ncleg.net; Craig.Horn@ncleg.net; Julia.Howard@ncleg.net; Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net; Frank.Iler@ncleg.net; Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net; Bert.Jones@ncleg.net; Brenden.Jones@ncleg.net; Jonathan.Jordan@ncleg.net;Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net; David.Lewis@ncleg.net; Chris.Malone@ncleg.net; Susan.Martin@ncleg.net; Pat.McElraft@ncleg.net; Chuck.McGrady@ncleg.net; Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net; Tim.Moore@ncleg.net; Bob.Muller@ncleg.net;
 
Gregory.Murphy@ncleg.net; Larry.Pittman@ncleg.net; Larry.Potts@ncleg.net; Michele.Presnell@ncleg.net; Dennis.Riddell@ncleg.net; David.Rogers@ncleg.net; Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net; Jason.Saine@ncleg.net; John.Sauls@ncleg.net; Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.net; Phil.Shepard@ncleg.net; Michael.Speciale@ncleg.net; Bob.Steinburg@ncleg.net; Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net; Scott.Stone@ncleg.net; Larry.Strickland@ncleg.net; John.Szoka@ncleg.net; John.Torbett@ncleg.net; Rena.Turner@ncleg.net; Harry.Warren@ncleg.net; Sam.Watford@ncleg.net; Donna.White@ncleg.net; Linda.Williams@ncleg.net; Larry.Yarborough@ncleg.net; Lee.Zachary@ncleg.net

*Spam filters or email program limitations may cause the need to send more than one email, to cover the entire list of representatives. If required in your case, the list above is split into three pieces, for your convenience. 


DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Suggested Subject: “Protect Due Process, No to Firearm Restraining Orders”  
Dear Representative:

I am writing because I’ve just been informed of the horrifying proposal that Rep. Morey is preparing to introduce. I understand Rep. Morey would like to establish “Firearm Restraining Orders” (FROs) in our state. FROs are simply mechanisms for bypassing constitutional due process protections in order to confiscate firearms, at whim, from accused persons who have not been convicted of any crime. Not only can one’s firearms be confiscated based on accusation alone, FRO hearings can also be held without the presence of the accused. To say this is unacceptable is an understatement.

I am incensed that any representative in an ostensibly free state would even suggest such an ominous mechanism be established within our legal system. I assure you, citizens like me will not stand for the suspension of our Constitutional rights. I insist that you act now to put a stop to any legislation that would establish these extra-constitutional judicial bodies, which are designed to strip people of their rights based on accusations alone.

Also, I must insist that you explain to me where you stand on this issue. I must be sure that my representatives are on the side of liberty—protecting my rights—and are not willing to oppress Constitutional guarantees simply due to the current direction of political winds.

I need a response from you, and I will also be monitoring your actions on this matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully, 

Uncategorized

Meet Squish The Magic RINO

August 2, 2017 by 1 Comment

While I may have hated what Saul Alinsky stood for, I must admit his Rules for Radicals does come in handy when pushing for gun rights. Grass Roots North Carolina has learned this lesson and plans to unveil their version of Rule No. 5 tomorrow. That rule states “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon” and GRNC plans to make the most of it. They will have a new mascot to go along with their bulldog. The new mascot is named Squish the Magic RINO. You can guess where that name came from.

To protest the failure of the North Carolina Senate to bring HB 746 which included permitless concealed carry to the floor for a vote as well as to highlight those Republicans in the House who voted against the bill, they plan to have a rally in Raleigh against these Republicans in name only. Given that the Republicans achieved a super-majority in both house of the General Assembly through the hard work, efforts, and votes of gun owners, they need to be reminded that they should be dancing those that brung them. It seems that some of these Republicans would rather be beholden to Michael Bloomberg than to the voters of their own districts.

I think Squish makes a perfectly fine addition to the roster of mascots. Perhaps, in addition to Squish, there needs to be one called Squirmy because that is what I want to see these Rino guys and gals squirm.

Gun group to lampoon GOP
RINOs


Failure of Senate to pass HB 746 will be topic of demonstration at NC General
Assembly

At 11:00 am on Thursday, August 3,
Grass
Roots North Carolina will hold NC Senate Republicans accountable for the
Senate’s failure to pass House Bill 746 (“Omnibus Gun
Changes”) which would, among other things, bring North Carolina on board
with the 13 states which have already passed permitless carry of
concealed handguns. The event will be held at the Halifax Mall at the NC
General Assembly.

Meet “Squish the Magic R.I.N.O.” & Friends!

To highlight the fact that some GOP senators
(including Senator Phil Berger?) seem to be behaving like “Republicans
in
Name Only” (R.I.N.O.s), GRNC will be introducing a new mascot, “Squish the Magic R.I.N.O.” and friends. If
Republicans fail to pass HB 746 during or before the 2018 short session of the General Assembly, “Squish” could become a regular
feature at GOP campaign events.

Take advantage of this highly photogenic
event!

Squish and his friends will be cavorting under a highly photogenic banner proclaiming:

“NC Senate R.I.N.Os:

Giving Gun Voters ‘The Horn’ Since…?”

Event details:
When: August 3 at 11:00 AM
EDT

Where: Halifax Mall, NC General Assembly, 16 West Jones Street,
Raleigh, NC 27601
Uncategorized

Rally Against The RINOs In Raleigh

July 31, 2017 by

The North Carolina General Assembly is returning for a special session on August 3rd. Grass Roots North Carolina is preparing a welcome for them called Rally Against RINOs in Raleigh. It is to remind the Republicans that they only achieved their supermajority in both houses due to the efforts of gun owners. The impetus for this rally is the inability of the Republicans in the House to pass HB 746 with a veto proof majority and the refusal of the State Senate to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

If you are in the Raleigh area or if you can be in the Raleigh area for the rally on Thursday, the details are below:

LET’S REMIND OUR REPUBLICANS WHO

PUT THEM IN OFFICE.
Remember in the last election how the Republican candidates couldn’t get enough love from pro-second
amendment North Carolinians? Remember how they promised to be the stalwart guardians of your gun rights?

As expected, they have forgotten who
“brung ’em to the dance.” We know this because House Bill 746 is stuck
in the Senate — the result of petty quibbling and inactivity.
Politicians are always at risk of becoming complacent (especially when
their party holds a supermajority in both the house and the senate), and
they
sometimes need to be reminded of who they work for.

Worse yet: we
know that Michael Bloomberg’s out-of-state money has been hard at work
in
North Carolina, with a few well-paid operatives whispering fear and
doubt into the ears of our elected leaders. This isn’t a new game for
them, since
they prognosticate doom about every pro-Second Amendment measure that
comes up … and when these pro-gun bills are passed into law, their
fears of
doom are proven to be completely unfounded. Still, we want to make sure
that responsible, law-abiding gun owners are being seen and heard by
their
elected leaders. Let’s remind them that rich New Yorkers and a few paid
minions don’t speak for us in our state legislature.

The General Assembly
returns for a special session on Thursday August 3, and we’ve planned a gun rights rally for the mall area between the Legislature
and the Legislative Office Building. Most importantly: we need YOU there to join the chorus of North Carolina’s
law-abiding, responsible gun owners. Together, we can encourage our leaders to move House Bill 746 in this special session.

The
demonstration will take place on Thursday August 3 at 11:00 AM. This will be a safe, fun, family-oriented event where we will introduce a new
figure to North Carolina’s political scene: Squish the Magic RINO!

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
  • RSVP
    on the GRNC website     and     let us
    know that you can attend the rally (https://www.grnc.org/august-3-demonstration).
  • Attend the rally! It will be located on the grass mall just north of the
    Legislative building at 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh. The rally will begin at 11:00 AM, but it’s wise to get there early to alleviate
    parking concerns.
  • Please make sure that you dress for the press. We
    encourage professional attire. Please, no inflammatory slogans on clothing or signs. We want to show everyone that North Carolina’s gun
    owners are the most civil, respectful, law-abiding citizens!
Uncategorized

The Best Shills A Billionaire’s Money Can Buy

June 7, 2017 by 1 Comment

HB 746 has been reported favorably out of both the House Judiciary IV and Finance Committees. Among other things, this bill would allow permitless concealed carry by anyone 18 and above who is legally entitled to possess a firearm. In other words, this bill would bring constitutional carry for concealed firearms to North Carolina.

As you can imagine, the usual suspects are lining up against it. The Raleigh News and Observer reports that the North Carolina chapter of the Moms Demand and Everytown, Americans for Responsible Solutions, and the leftist advocacy group Progress NC are joining forces to defeat HB 746. They have also commissioned “polls” which purport to show the majority of North Carolinians are against constitutional carry.

The mainstream media is doing its part by finding “hunters” and “gun owners” who oppose the bill as this tidbit from the N&O shows.

John “Curly” Brazelton of Havelock, a former Marine who belongs to a hunting club, said in an interview with The N&O last week that everyone in his hunting club opposes the idea of eliminating concealed-carry permits.

“We all have them,” Brazelton said. “We have the best law in the country right now.”

Of course the proposed law does not eliminate NC Concealed Handgun Permits. They will still be available for those who want to take advantage of reciprocity from those states that recognize the North Carolina permit.

However, all of this pales in comparison to the amount of money that Mike Bloomberg is spending on registered lobbyists. Not content with all the free support he is getting from the mainstream media and their efforts to find “gun owners” who oppose constitutional carry, he has hired a fleet of lobbyists from some of the leading North Carolina law and lobbying firms.

Knowing he has to convince just enough Republicans to side with the Democrats so that any anticipated veto of the bill by Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) cannot be overrode, one of Bloomberg’s primary hires is lobbyist Chris McClure. McClure is a native of Haywood County where I resided for many years and made his bones working for Mark Meadows and Patrick McHenry. He also served as Executive Director of the NC Republican Party. The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research ranked McClure the 24th most effective lobbyist in 2013. I’m sure his effectiveness rating is now higher.

Grass Roots North Carolina has more info on the other shills – I mean lobbyists – hired by Bloomberg to curtail constitutional rights in the Tar Heel State. They also request that you help stiffen the spine of the Republicans to withstand this onslaught.

Is NC For Sale? Bloomberg Thinks So.

Yesterday
we broke the news that Michael Bloomberg and his collection of
astroturf gun grabbing organizations have purchased the service of
several registered North Carolina lobbyists in an attempt to bring their
dangerous
big-government, anti-freedom agenda to North Carolina. Despite their
staggering losses (constitution carry is now the law in 16 states), they
continue
to burn up the out-of-state millions that Bloomberg has pledged to
whittle away your freedoms, and they’re now bringing paid Bloomberg
mercenaries to
the table to do their legislative dirty work.

Worse yet, they’ve
been stoking media fears by making wild (and untrue) claims about Gun
Omnibus
Bill H746. Some of their wildest gesticulations are around allowing
law-abiding North Carolinians to carry a concealed handgun without a
permit.
Despite the usual fear-stoking and prognostications about blood in the
streets, the evidence from the other 13 states that now allow permitless
carry
suggests the opposite — that empowering people to defend themselves and
their families correlates to a reduction in violent crime.

As a supporter
of Grass Roots North Carolina, you value transparency and
accountability. You know how important it is to follow the law in letter
and spirit, and you
know that public officials need to be held accountable for all of their
actions. Because lobbyists are bought and paid for by special interests,
the
law requires that they be registered. In that spirit, we’d like to
introduce you to the bought-and-paid-for “Everytown” influencers
that are now working hard to further Michael Bloomberg’s agenda in North
Carolina. Go ahead and contact them if you’d like to, but if you do
make sure
you keep the tone polite, and if you call them, only call once. Be a role model of polite civility, and demonstrate that law-abiding gun
owners are model citizens.



Meet lobbyist Christopher McClure (chrismcclure@brookspierce.com, 919-882-2502) of the law firm Brooks Pierce.
Despite his long
history of voting in Republican primaries (why don’t you look up his
voter registration, which lists his home address as 223 Crisp St.,
Durham, NC),
Chris now finds himself with the unenviable task of convincing lawmakers
(many of whom proclaimed to be staunchly pro-second amendment) to do
Michael
Bloomberg’s bidding.

Meet Lobbyist Elizabeth Biser (ebiser@brookspierce.com, 919-882-2508), also the law firm Brooks Pierce.
Her long history of
voting in Democratic primaries (address withheld) is more in line with
what we’d expect from a paid freedom-grabbing Bloomberg shill.

Meet Brian Lewis (brian@newframellc.com, 919-413-2580). His company, New Frame LLC,
is on the Bloomberg
take. Like Elizabeth, Brian has a long history of voting in Democratic
primaries (his home address is listed in the voter rolls as 114
Southwold Dr.,
Cary, NC), suggesting that he, too, might be sympathetic to anti-freedom
causes.

Meet Skye David of New Frame LLC (skye@newframellc.com,
812-881-0200). It’s surprising that a person who claims to advocate for
victims of
domestic violence would align herself with a group that seeks to empower
domestic violence aggressors by disarming their victims. Skye’s voter
registration is recent (address withheld), but her alignment to
Bloomberg’s blood money make her politics plainly clear.

Meet Christy Jones (christy@newframellc.com, 336-905-0428), the third leg of the New Frame LLC Bloomberg anti-gun
lobbying tripod (address withheld).

IMMEDIATE
ACTION REQUIRED!

DELIVER THIS
MESSAGE
Suggested Subject: “Pass HB 746 Now; Represent the Voters, Not
Bloomberg’s Paid Lobbyists”  
Dear Representative:

I understand that a vote on the omnibus gun rights had to be
postponed last week due to late-night budget negotiations. That is
disappointing, but I also understand the bill will be brought to the
floor for a
vote this week. That’s good news.

I am writing today to ask you to
vote ‘Yes’ on this bill on the House floor, and to vote
‘No’ on any weakening amendments. The right to keep and bear arms is a
fundamental human right, and North Carolinians are finally making
headway in rolling back the oppressive erosion of this right that has
taken place in recent decades. Let’s keep that freedom trend going!

On
that same note, I would also remind you that strong support for
“constitutional carry” is an explicit part of the Republican Party’s
2016 platform (see page 12), just as gun rights in general are. With
this fact at the forefront, I can see no reason for any Republican to
shy away
from supporting this gun-rights legislation. In fact, among other
things, pro-Second Amendment policy is precisely what voters had in mind
when they
chose you as their representative.

We are aware of the
Bloomberg-funded lobbyists that are whispering in your ear. Do you
really want to align
yourself with Bloomberg’s carpetbagging mercenaries?Represent voters,
and not the big-money, anti-gun interests from New York City!

I’ll be
eagerly awaiting more news on this topic from Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully