gun rights

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Early 1-Stop Voting Starts Tomorrow In NC (Updated)

October 19, 2022 by

Early one-stop voting starts on Thursday, October 20th, in North Carolina. The premier race is for the US Senate. It pits Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC13) against former NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. This is going to be a very, very close race as they are virtually tied.

For those who value the Second Amendment this is a critical race that we must win. On one side you have Ted Budd who not only supports gun rights but owns a gun store and range. He isn’t afraid to be seen shooting in his campaign photos and ads. You may remember I mentioned running into him at Montgomery Community College while he was touring the gunsmithing department.

BRUCE HENDERSON bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com

On the other side, Beasley is an Everytown Gunsense endorsed candidate. She also put this on her campaign website. Need I say more?

Cheri also believes that we must keep our children and communities safe by also implementing common sense gun safety measures like universal background checks, encouraging safe storage and closing loopholes to prevent domestic abusers and those with mental health issues from being able to obtain a gun. We must also do more to stop the plague of mass shootings across our communities by keeping combat-style weapons and high-capacity magazines off our streets and away from our schools. 

I have highlighted all the buzz words used by gun prohibitionists.

There are many other races as well that are just as critical ranging from Congress to the appellate judicial races to the state house and senate.

In my own Congressional district, you have self-made businessman St. Sen. Chuck Edwards who just happens to hold a FFL against Buncombe County Comm. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. While neither has made gun rights a part of their campaign, you have to know that Edwards will support gun owners and Beach-Ferrara will not. Her main campaign focus seems to be abortion where she portrays herself as a caring, pro-abortion minister. Edwards’ focus is on the economy and inflation.

Two NC Supreme Court seats are up for grabs. If the Republicans take both of them, they will then be in the majority on the court and we probably won’t get rulings overturning the vote on constitutional amendments dealing with tax reform and voter ID. While both Republican candidates are good, Judge Richard Dietz who is now on the NC Court of Appeals really stands out. He has argued the Abramski case before the US Supreme Court. While he unfortunately lost, we know he is pro-Second Amendment and pro-self defense.

The other seat has Justice Sam J. Ervin IV (D) versus Trey Allen (R) who serves as the General Counsel for the Administrative Office of the Courts. I met Jimmy Ervin (who now goes by Sam) years ago when in college. He and I were both heads of our respective chapters of College Democrats. (Yes, I was young, stupid, and a Democrat at one time.) Despite his Harvard Law degree, he never has been seen as one of those brilliant lawyers who must be on the bench. What he does have is a famous last name. Grandpa (Sam Jr) served like Jimmy on the NC Supreme Court and as a US Senator while Daddy (Sam III) served as a NC Superior Court judge and on the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. We don’t have hereditary rights to office in this country though it seems that the sons and grandsons of politicians often “inherit” a seat. He is running an “aw, shucks” kind of ad saying he works to balance the law and the facts. If that was really the case, then he would have broken with the Democrat majority on the NC Supreme Court in voting down voter ID.

In the State House and Senate, if the Republicans can flip just a handful of seats, they will regain their super-majority. In terms of gun rights, this would mean the end of the Jim Crow era pistol purchase permit who Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed.

To see where the legislative candidates – state and Federal – stand on gun rights, Grass Roots North Carolina has their candidate evaluations posted. You can search by name or by district. The GRNC-Political Victory Fund recommendations have been released and have gone out by email. As soon as I get a link to it, I will post it. One thing I should note, if a candidate didn’t have a voting record and didn’t return the GRNC survey they are rated zero stars. For the life of me, I cannot understand Republican candidates who just ignore the survey. You don’t have to be great; you only have to better than the Democrat.

The Judicial Fairness Project has their recommendations posted for NC appellate level judges. These are candidates who have pledged to uphold originalist interpretations of the Constitution.

One thing I heard at the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference was that over 30% of gun owners don’t bother voting. Just imagine if the majority of them did vote and voted for gun rights.

UPDATE: I now have an updated link to the Grass Roots North Carolina – Political Victory Fund candidate recommendations for the General Election.

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LawDog On Compromise

July 1, 2022 by 4 Comments

A number of years ago, well-known gun blogger LawDog had a long post regarding compromise on gun rights. He used the analogy of splitting a cake wherein after a number of compromises we are left with just crumbs.

I was reminded of that analogy recently when I saw his infographic which put this analogy into pictorial form. It came up with regard to our recent demonstration outside of Sen. Thom Tillis’ office in Raleigh. Tillis was one of the prime architects of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which saw those of us who are pro-rights get nothing and the other side get “a good first step”.

I have to agree with LawDog. We have been reasonable for much too long. The urge “to do something” never results in either good policy or one that is actually effective. With the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Bruen, we need to go on the offensive which it appears groups like the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition have started to do.

Since I’m speaking of LawDog, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that he published an anthology this spring called Ghosts of Malta. In addition to LawDog, it has stories by Jim “Old NFO” Curtis and Kelly “Ambulance Driver” Grayson in it. I’ve read it cover to cover and highly recommend it. The anthology is available in both book and Kindle format on Amazon.

UPDATE: If you would like to purchase a copy of this infographic in a poster-size format, they are available from LawDog. Go to https://www.tattersandravelings.com/product/lawdog-s-gun-rights-cake-poster/123?cs=true&cst=custom

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Schrödinger’s NRA

September 10, 2021 by 1 Comment

Normally I would call this post “Tweet of the Day”. However, I found the title in Rob Romano’s tweet too good not to use.

Rob is the creator of the invaluable Gun Case Tracker which follows virtually every 2A related case at the Federal and state level. He is also the Community Communications Director for the Firearms Policy Coalition.

For those of us in the gun rights community, the acronym NRA means the National Rifle Association. For anti-gun politicians and the media, it is shorthand for both the National Rifle Association and every other gun rights group. Given their top-down approach, it is hard for them to conceive that the largest organization doesn’t control everything. It is also hard for them to conceive that the grassroots can actually make their voice heard without a lot of prodding from the folks in Fairfax.

Here are the pair of great tweets from Rob:

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War Calibers?

December 31, 2020 by 2 Comments

Spain, like all European countries, has pretty extensive gun control even though it is the 7th largest exporter of firearms internationally. Every firearm and its owner is registered. This registry, controlled by the Central Inspectorate for Arms and Explosives, is updated monthly. It is estimated that there are 3 million firearms and 1.1 million owners registered with most being for either target shooting or hunting.

The Spanish gun rights organization ANARMA – Asociación Nacional del Arma de Espana – is concerned those numbers could be reduced even more if a proposal to prohibit certain calibers is adopted.

The Spanish Ministry of Defense maintains a list of calibers called “war calibers”. These are the calibers of rifles and ammunition that civilians are forbidden to own.

From LibreMercado (translated using Google translator):

The Government has just opened a new front against hunters and sports shooting fans. As denounced by the National Weapons Association (Anarma) , PSOE and Podemos threaten to confiscate thousands of rifles that, today, are legal, by classifying certain calibers as “war” and, therefore, prohibited for use by civilians. The popular .30-06 Springfield and 7.62x54R could enter that new black list , according to sources from the same association.

This new prohibition coincides in time with the new Arms Regulations , which came into force on November 5, and which has created great discontent in the field of hunting, sport shooting, arms collecting and historical recreation. Not in vain, several associations have filed an administrative contentious appeal in the Supreme Court against its entry into force.

Anarma denounces that, given the difficulties in prohibiting some weapons directly, the Government is studying expanding the current list of so-called “war calibers”, created in 1993 and which had not been touched for 27 years.

The ANARMA website goes into more detail on the calibers being proposed for addition to the prohibited list:

Well, presumably the ICAE has once again influenced the DGAM to expand the list of military calibers prohibited to civilians. These are as follows:

7.62x54R

.30-06 Springfield

.458 SOCOM

5.45×39 mm SOVIET

5.7×28 mm FN

4.6 x 30 mm

5.8×21 mm Chinese

5.8×42 mm Chinese

ANARMA is especially alarmed that 7.62x54R and .30-06 Springfield are on the list. The latter is the best selling caliber of rifles and ammo in Spain.

They go on to add –

In view of the list, we believe that behind it is a distraction strategy, which we call “Jack Reacher”. As in the movie, a lot of targets are attacked, in order to hide the motives of the one who really interests. In this case, the 7.62x54R, the cartridge that fires the Mossin-Nagant, the SVT-40, the Dragunov and the Izhmash Tiger. These last three semi-automatic rifles that have always been in the ICAE’s sights. As with the new regulation, you cannot prohibit them, since they have never been FUL-AUTO, so they intend to prohibit the caliber. Possibly some others of those proposed are rejected, thus giving the appearance of a process with some formality. In short, another tease of legitimate gun users and an attack on private property and our freedoms.

I think ANARMA is correct. This is a devious way to ban firearms. Instead of saying you can’t own a Winchester 70 in .30-06, just ban the caliber as a “war caliber”.

I wonder which came first for the anti-gun movement – “weapons of war” or “war caliber”? Either way, it is a deliberate attempt by the prohibitionists to confuse the un-informed.

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One Day Of The New Congress And There Are Already Gun Bills

January 4, 2019 by 2 Comments

The 116th Congress has been in session for little more than a day and we already are seeing gun bills. However, they aren’t all bad. There is even a good knife bill proposed. However, I imagine the really bad ones are in the pipeline. I’m sure Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), the Carolyn McCarthy of Georgia and a card carrying Demanding Mom, will have a bill sooner or later.

The Good

HR 38 – Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) – This is a reintroduced version of his national reciprocity bill and it even has the same number as last time. 90 co-sponsors.

HR 88 – Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) – To protect the right of law-abiding citizens to transport knives interstate, notwithstanding a patchwork of local and State prohibitions, and to repeal Federal provisions related to switchblade knives which burden citizens. 4 Co-sponsors.

HR 155 – Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) – This bill would remove silencers or suppressors from the definition of firearms. I am presuming this means that they would also be removed from the requirements of the National Firearms Act of 1934. 23 co-sponsors.

HR 175 – Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) – To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to more comprehensively address the interstate transportation of firearms or ammunition. I think this means an updating of FOPA 86 to provide more protection for travelers who have firearms. 0 c0-sponsors.

HR 189 – Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R- MO) – To provide requirements for the appropriate Federal banking agencies when requesting or ordering a depository institution to terminate a specific customer account, and for other purposes. The intent of this bill is to end Operation Choke Point. 0 Co-sponsors.

The Bad

HR 33 – Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) – To increase public safety by punishing and deterring firearms trafficking. (Somehow I don’t think Rep. Rush means the gangbangers and their girlfriends on the southside of Chicago). 0 Co-sponsors.

HR 49 – Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) – To require the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report to the Congress semiannually on the number of firearms transfers resulting from the failure to complete a background check within 3 business days, and the procedures followed after it is discovered that a firearm transfer has been made to a transferee who is ineligible to receive a firearm. Presumably this was inspired by the Charleston church murders. 0 Co-sponsors.

HR 157 – Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) – To repeal the provisions of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act prohibiting the bringing of qualified civil liability actions in Federal or State court. 0 Co-sponsors.

HR 167 – Rep. Al Green (D-TX) – To prohibit the transfer of a firearm at a gun show by a person who is not a licensed dealer. Presumably closing the non-existent gun show loophole. 1 Co-sponsor.

S 7 – Sen. Marco Rubio – (R-FL) – A bill to provide family members of an individual who they fear is a danger to himself, herself, or others, or law enforcement, with new tools to prevent gun violence. This is the first of the Red Flag laws promised. 3 Co-sponsors.

The Rest

HR 110 – Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) – To provide an exception to certain mandatory minimum sentence requirements for a person employed outside the United States by a Federal agency, who uses, carries, or possesses the firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence committed while on-duty with a firearm required to be carried while on-duty. 0 Co-sponsors.

There have been 321 bills or resolutions introduced as of yesterday according to Congress.gov. If I missed any anti-gun bill that was introduced, please list the bill number in the comments.

UPDATE: HR 207 – Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-MD) – To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program supporting trauma centers with violence intervention and violence prevention programs, and for other purposes. (Given his anti-gun stance, this bill should probably be in the bad column.)

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We Forget The Lessons Of Lexington And Concord At Our Peril

April 19, 2018 by 1 Comment

Today marks the 243rd anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The impetus for the battle was the attempt by the military governor of Massachusetts, Gen. Thomas Gage, to seize the arms and ammunition of the militia. Gage had been ordered by Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to disarm the militia.

As I noted on the 242nd anniversary, the colonists were fighting to preserve the right to keep and bear arms that was one of their rights as Englishmen since at least 1689. Since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, our right to keep and bear arms has been under continual attack. Moreover, some of these attacks have been led by our ostensible friends such as Gov. Phil Scott (R-VT) and Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL).

It doesn’t matter if it is raising the age to 21 to purchase a firearm, bump stock bans, restrictions on standard capacity magazines, extreme violence protection orders, universal background checks, or what not, these laws and regulations are intended to destroy our rights and to destroy the gun culture in America.

Ensign Robert Munroe, Issac Muzzy, Samuel Hadley, John Brown, Jonas Parker, Jonathan Harrington, Caleb Harrington, and Asahel Porter did not die on or near Lexington Green to see modern day Americans just toss their rights away.

Nor did John Robbins, Solomon Pierce, John Tidd, Joseph Comee, Ebenezer Munroe Jr., Thomas Winship, Nathaniel Farmer, Prince Estabrook, and Jedediah Munroe suffer grievous gunshot and bayonet wounds to have modern day American politicians push safety over freedom.

I imagine the men of Captain Parker’s Company of Militia were scared as they assembled on Lexington Green. There were only 80-some of them facing about 700 or so British regulars and Royal Marines. Nonetheless, they were willing to face off against the greatest army of its day. If we can’t stand up to a coterie of freedom-despising billionaires, their PR flacks, their media allies, and their trained-bear-act teens, it is a sad day for America.

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For Those In Florida

March 21, 2018 by

Last year, Florida Carry got some grief from Marion Hammer and the NRA due to their stance on some bills in the Florida legislature. Notwithstanding that – and showing that they are united in their support of gun rights – they have passed on the following alert from the NRA and Marion Hammer. I think it shows class on their part.

The alert concerns a move by the anti-gun forces to diminish gun rights in Florida through putting constitutional amendments on the ballot. One need only looks at the moves by Bloomberg and Everytown to force so-called universal background checks through referenda. They succeeded in Washington and Nevada but failed in Maine.

From Florida Carry:

ALERT: Anti-gun CRC Members Want Gun Bans in the Florida Constitution

DATE: March 19, 2018
TO:      USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
            USF Executive Director
            NRA Past President
ACTION NEEDED NOW


Some
of the members of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC)
are very anti-gun and they are proposing and pushing gun ban and gun
control amendments to put in the Florida Constitution.

Commissioners will be voting on these amendment soon. Links to these amendments are listed at the bottom.

Among these amendments are:

*An
“assault weapons” ban which bans the distribution, sale, transfer, and
possession of so-called assault weapons and any detachable magazine that
has a capacity of more than 9 rounds.  (Makes possession illegal with
no compensation provided for those already possessed that must be
surrendered) 

*A
ban on any semi-automatic rifle that is able to accept a detachable
magazine or has a fixed magazine capable of holding more than10 rounds.
(that means almost all semi-automatic rifles)

*A
ban on the sale and transfer of “assault weapons” and defines
“transfer” as the conveyance “from a person or entity to another person
or entity WITHOUT any conveyance of money or other valuable
consideration.”  (Note: to “convey” between persons without compensation
could mean the simple act of handing the firearm to another person
while hunting, on the range, or anywhere)

*A 10 day waiting period (excluding weekends and legal holidays) on all firearms to facilitate a background check.

*A ban on the purchase of any firearm by a person under 21 years of age. 

*A ban on the sale, transfer and possession of bump stocks and other devises, tools, kits, etc. 

Please email CRC Commissioners and tell them to OPPOSE gun control amendments!

PLEASE DO IT NOW !!! They could be voting on these amendments at anytime


IN THE SUBJECT LINE PUT:  

VOTE AGAINST GUN CONTROL AMENDMENTS

(To send your message to all just Block and Copy All email addresses into the “Send To” box)

(Depending on you email program you may need to add commas or semicolons between each email) 

jose.armas@flcrc.gov
pam.bondi@flcrc.gov
lisa.carlton@flcrc.gov
timothy.cerio@flcrc.gov
hank.coxe@flcrc.gov
jose.diaz@flcrc.gov
erika.donalds@flcrc.gov
don.gaetz@flcrc.gov
emery.gainey@flcrc.gov
anna.gamez@flcrc.gov
brecht.heuchan@flcrc.gov
marva.johnson@flcrc.gov
darlene.jordan@flcrc.gov
arthenia.joyner@flcrc.gov
fred.karlinsky@flcrc.gov
belinda.keiser@flcrc.gov
frank.kruppenbacher@flcrc.gov
tom.lee@flcrc.gov
gary.lester@flcrc.gov
patricia.levesque@flcrc.gov
roberto.martinez@flcrc.gov
rich.newsome@flcrc.gov
chris.nocco@flcrc.gov
jeanette.nunez@flcrc.gov
jimmy.patronis@flcrc.gov
sherry.plymale@flcrc.gov
darryl.rouson@flcrc.gov
william.schifino@flcrc.gov
chris.smith@flcrc.gov
bob.solari@flcrc.gov
chris.sprowls@flcrc.gov
john.stemberger@flcrc.gov
pam.stewart@flcrc.gov
jacqui.lippisch@flcrc.gov
carolyn.timmann@flcrc.gov
nicole.washington@flcrc.gov

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS:
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For My Friends In Arizona

March 21, 2018 by

What is it with Republican governors in retirement havens? First there was Rick Scott (R-FL) going all squishy in Florida. Now it seems Doug Docey (R-AZ) is going squishy as well.

Arizona Citizens Defense League has the details in this alert:

Action Alert

Today, Governor Ducey revealed his “Safer Arizona Schools” gun control plan.  We posted a copy on our website. 
Caution!  You may want to wrap your head with duct tape to prevent it
from exploding when you read it.  It looks like a propaganda piece from
one of Bloomberg’s Astroturf groups.  Odds are they had a big hand in
writing it.

The good news is that many in the Legislature aren’t all that excited
about what they see in the Governor’s plan either.  The dream of
suspending all the rules and ramming this through without anyone
noticing has evaporated.  We’re now hearing that the Governor’s proposal
may be broken into a few smaller bills with the hope that at least one
will get to his desk.  That tells us we have a shot at ending this
altogether.

The even better news is that your emails are having an effect.  After
receiving over 11,000 of your emails they know we’re watching and we
have their attention.  We can’t let up.  Your legislators need to hear
from you that there is NO acceptable “gun control.”

If you have already sent an email to your legislators, please do it again. 
If you have not yet sent an email, what are you waiting for?  If you
are willing to fight for your rights, we’ve done most of the work for
you by preparing the email to send to your legislators.  All you need to
do is click on the link above, follow instructions and click your mouse
button a couple more times.

Your
legislators need to hear from you, letting them know that you are still
paying attention and expecting them to support your rights.  Send your email today!

Along with that alert is another one asking supporters in Arizona to send both letters and RTS (request to speak) notices to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of two pro-2A bills being pushed by AzCDL. These bills will die if they don’t pass out of committee this week.

On
Thursday, March 22, the Senate Judiciary Committee will debate
AzCDL-requested bills HB 2211 and HB 2212.  If these bills don’t pass
out of committee this week, they are dead for the session.  The deadline
for House bills to be heard in Senate committees (and vice versa) is
Friday, March 23.

HB 2211 would add a personal exemption for firearms to the state’s
bankruptcy statutes.  Currently there is no specific bankruptcy
exemption for personal firearms.

HB 2212 would eliminate the restriction that only Arizona peace officers
cannot be prohibited from carrying firearms in Arizona.  The proposed
law would extend “shall not be prohibited” to any law enforcement
officer employed by any jurisdiction (federal, tribal, state, local,
etc.) in the U.S.

Since this is the last chance for these bills to get a committee hearing, we going for a double whammy – RTS and a letter to the committee.

If you have a valid and active RTS account, please log in here https://apps.azleg.gov/ and keep your browser open.  Then, click on the links below to register your support for each bill.

For HB 2211 go here: https://apps.azleg.gov/RequestToSpeak/New/102305 .

For HB 2212 go here: https://apps.azleg.gov/RequestToSpeak/New/102316 .

If you do not have an RTS account, or even if you do,
please click on the links below to send your emails to all the
committee members telling them to support these bills during the
committee hearing.

For HB 2211 go here to send your email to the committee:
http://cqrcengage.com/azcdl/app/take-action?engagementId=453514 .

For HB 2212 go here to send your email to the committee:
http://cqrcengage.com/azcdl/app/take-action?engagementId=453653 .

Thanks for taking the time to make a difference! 

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GRNC – Time To Wake Up The Republicans In The NC General Assembly

May 11, 2017 by 1 Comment

Grass Roots North Carolina sent out an alert last night requesting that people call Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) between 9am and 11am this morning. They are also asking people to send an email to him asking them where is the progress on gun rights.

From GRNC:

Republicans in power-induced lackadaisical mode


Are
Republicans lost in the spoils of power, just laying
back and enjoying their super majority at the expense of good gun bills
being left to languish?  Why the reluctance to move on anything
pro-Second Amendment?  These are good questions to ask of House Speaker
Tim Moore.

GRNC President Paul Valone has hand delivered the following
letter to Speaker Moore.  Please see the link below regarding his disappointment on the lack of follow through on pro-gun bills.

https://www.grnc.org/pauls-blog/924-open-letter-to-speaker-tim-moore



What’s going on with Pro Second Amendment bills?

If you are scratching your head and wondering the same; it’s time to
pass that question along to Speaker Moore.


IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

  • EMAIL AND CALL SPEAKER TIM MOORE: Please make the phone calls on
    THURSDAY, BETWEEN 9 AND 11:00 AM, if at all possible. If not, call whenever you can. 


  • Ask the Speaker, “What’s going on with our pro-Second Amendment legislation? Have the Republicans
    gotten so lax in their power, that they’re writing off the gun voters who put them there?”

  • Email him at: tim.Moore@ncleg.net and call using this number: 919-733-3451. Use the copy/paste text provided below to
    send the email. When calling, if you are sent to voicemail, please leave a message.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Suggested Subject: “What’s going on with pro Second Amendment legislation?”  
Dear Speaker Moore:
Now
that Republicans are enjoying their super-majority spoils, it seems the
legislature has
become lackadaisical in pushing through any pro-Second Amendment
legislation.  This is deeply disappointing to me as a gun rights voter. 
We
expect our representatives to display the same character and conviction
in Raleigh that they claim to have while on the campaign trail.

As other
states
move forward on pro-gun bills such as constitutional and campus carry,
North Carolina seems to have dropped the ball on these very same
issues. 
Why is that?

The need for passing House Bills 438, 588 and 746 is
obvious, and the window of opportunity is closing! Fourteen states now
have
Constitutional Carry without any dire consequences.  New Hampshire
became “Lucky 13”, beating North Carolina to the finish
line.  Georgia Governor Nathan Deal recently signed campus carry
legislation into law, so once again, another state passes North
Carolina.

The
naysayers continue to be proven wrong in their dire predictions
regarding the results of pro-gun legislation.  As you rest on your
laurels, other
states are moving forward and advancing gun rights.  So I ask of you,
“What is happening with pro-Second Amendment legislation in our
state?”

I will be monitoring your actions through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,
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For My Friends In Illinois

December 27, 2016 by

One of the most important annual gun rights events held in Illinois is the Illinois Gun Owners Legislative Day or IGOLD. That is the day when gun owners from around the Prairie State converge on Springfield to meet with their legislators gun rights issues. IGOLD 2017 is set for Wednesday, April 5th.

The important thing to remember about Illinois politics is that not all Democrats are anti-gun and not all Republicans are pro-gun. The bill authorizing shall-issue concealed carry was sponsored by Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) while recently defeated US Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) was relatively anti-rights. Moreover, Gov. Bruce Rauner (R-IL) is relatively pro-gun and neither house of the General Assembly has a super-majority.

With the number of murders in the city of Chicago now topping 750 for the year, I would fully expect some stringent gun control measures to be proposed by Chicagoland politicians. This is where they usually come from. The election of Donald Trump as President has caused the gun prohibitionists like Bloomberg’s Everytown, the Brady Campaign, and Americans for Responsible Solutions to turn their attention on the states. They know they can’t win at the federal level but they have had some success at the state level as can be seen by the passage of gun control referenda in Washington State, Nevada, and California.

If you live in Illinois and are a gun owner, please try to clear your calendar so that you can make the trip to Springfield. Your rights may just well depend upon it.

Thousands of Second Amendment Supporters Will March on the Capitol in Springfield, IL!

IGOLD

Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day

Wed. April 5, 2017
Prairie Capital Convention Center
Springfield, IL
Mark this important date on your calendar.  If you need
to reserve a vacation day before the end of the year –
DO IT NOW! 
Because
several pro-Second Amendment legislators lost in the recent statewide
election, we will have an uphill battle when the General Assembly
returns to Springfield for the new session in 2017.  Anti-rights
legislators will be more determined than ever to disarm law-abiding
citizens. 
We know disarming innocent people does not make us safer. We know gun free
zones are killing zones.  It is important we lobby our legislators and
Gov. Rauner.  It is important that we voice our opposition to any
further restrictions on our Second Amendment rights.  It’s important
that we voice our support for:
  • Less restriction on where we can carry, so we can better protect ourselves and our loved ones.
  • Reducing the cost of concealed carry licenses, which is too high for many to afford.
  • Reciprocity with other states in order to  protect ourselves when we travel in those states.
Even if you have already received your carry license,
this is NOT the time to sit back and become lax! 
Those
who have taken the training and gone through the licensing process are
crucial to the fight and we need you to stand with us and be heard at
IGOLD! 
Save the date!  Be there!

Your 2017 New Year Assignment!

Your assignment for the New Year is to contact your State Representative and State Senator and express your concerns about: restrictions in the carry law, further attempts to enact firearm/magazine bans,
or attempts to make purchasing, owning, or transporting firearms more
difficult for law abiding citizens.  Contact your state legislators at
the State Capitol and at their home office. 
Don’t know who your state legislators are? 
Find them here: