ALERT: possible NC Legislature DECEPTION

The better news is that the state let the April 30 appeal deadline pass without filing an appeal, making the decision conclusive. Now, however, we might be seeing why Governor Perdue chose not to appeal…

THE BAD NEWS

The logical thing to do with a statute declared unconstitutional would be to simply repeal it, right? Alas, not in this august body. Instead of simply eliminating restrictions, the current proposal repeals the state’s ability to ban guns during states of emergency, but replaces it with language enabling cities to impose gun bans arguably more expansive than those in current law.

Under House Bill 489, now in the Senate Judiciary I Committee, if a hurricane or act of terrorism forced you to take your family and flee your home, you would have no lawful right to take firearms with you for protection at the time you need them most.

WHAT HB 489 DOES

It’s not yet clear who drafted the bill, but what they did was to strip a bill formerly dealing with mechanics’ liens, and replace its guts with “Dangerous Weapons Restrictions in Emergencies.”

To give you the flavor of the bill, consider part of its long title: “An Act to Authorize the Possession, Storage, and Use of Dangerous Weapons During a State of Emergency for Self-Defense in a Person’s Home…” [Emphasis added]

You read it right: Bureaucrats would “authorize” keeping firearms in the home, leading us to ask what other fundamental rights they might someday feel the need to “authorize.”

But don’t believe us. See it for yourself at: http://grnc.org/h489.html

Fundamental flaws in HB 489:

• The bill still restricts firearms outside the home during emergencies: Although new language in G.S. 14-288.12(b)(4) purports to let cities restrict outside-the-home carry only “when necessary to preserve the public peace where there is an imminent risk of damage, injury, or loss of life or property,” that language is so vague as to be meaningless. Virtually every state of emergency – be it hurricane, riot or snowstorm – carries these “imminent risks.”

• Regulations now reach into your home: Although the bill purports to forbid cities from regulating guns and ammunition in the home during emergencies, neither cities nor the state ever had the power to apply in-home bans during states of emergency. Translated, by stipulating what lawful gun-related activities you may do in the home, the bill tries to replace your unequivocal right to arms in the home with a restricted “right” to arms in the home.

• HB 489 replaces an unconstitutional statute with another unconstitutional statute: But because laws are constitutional until proven otherwise, you’ll have to go back to court to prove it.

• Email AND call: ALL of the following members of the NC Senate Judiciary I Committee
• Contact: House Majority Leader “Skip” Stam and ask him whether he authorized having the bill he sponsored stripped and turned into a restrictive gun law
• Help GRNC kill this & other gun bans: By joining or, if you are already a member, contributing at: https://ssl4.westserver.net/grnc.org/join.html