Expanded Gun Rights Angers Winston-Salem NC Politicians Who Fear Loss of Power
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 at 5:56 PMExpanded Gun Rights Angers Winston-Salem NC Politicians Who Fear Loss of Power
Winston-Salem “redefines” park areas to make gun ban “as restrictive as state law allows” .
Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education
North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- They’re angry that their “right” to infringe your rights have been taken by HB 650.
The Winston-Salem town council expressed outrage during their November 21st meeting that our state Assembly has “usurped” their “right” to disarm law-abiding citizens within city parks.
THE TOWN’S DISCUSSION WAS LACK OF GOVERNMENT REASON IN ACTION:
HB 650 was called “Objectionable”, “Unacceptable”, “Unforgivable”.
The same broken record reason for banning carry in parks was offered by Police Chief Scott Cunningham: “When a weapon is present the situation could escalate – to a fatal incident instead of bumps and bruises”.
Chief Cunningham also stated that Winston-Salem concealed carry permittees are, “very much law-abiding.”
What the Chief didn’t say is that there is no evidence that a permittee has been violent anywhere in NC. City Councilor Vivian H. Burke encouraged Winston-Salem citizens to “Occupy Raleigh” to protest HB 650. Mayor Allen Joines characterized HB 650 as having, “taken away the ability of city government to regulate its own affairs.”
It is clear that the Winston-Salem Mayor and City Council need a strong dose of reality-inducing reason to understand that the Second Amendment trumps any of their ordinances, and that it is they who serve at the Assembly’s pleasure.
And we are just the people to administer this badly-needed medicine.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:
Contact the Mayor and City Councilors of Winston-Salem, NC.
Cut and paste email list: danbesse@danbesse.org, vivianb@cityofws.org, denisea@cityofws.org, robertc@cityofws.org, derwinm@cityofws.org, mollyl@cityofws.org, wandam@cityofws.org, jamestjr@cityofws.org, allenj@cityofws.org
Deliver This Message
City of Winston-Salem Representatives,
It is clear from your November 21st meeting that your City Attorney rewrote city ordinances not to comply with state law (HB 650, Castle Doctrine and Concealed Carry Permitted in Parks), but to take every opportunity to “not comply” with this important freedom-promoting new legislation.
The resulting ordinance is an unreasonable infringement of Second Amendment rights that conflicts with the very intent of the new state law to provide state-wide uniformity. It also sends a troubling message of willful lack of cooperation with state government, under which you serve.
HB 650 was intended to increase the ability of law-abiding permittees to defend themselves and their families when visiting North Carolina parks. The need for citizens to be able to effectively defend themselves in Winston-Salem parks was made clear by Chief Scott Cunningham’s admission that crime is a problem in these areas. The severity of these problems across our state was made clear earlier this month by the brutal murder of Leroy Staton in Greenville’s Jaycee park. Based upon these established facts, your criticism of the Assembly’s enactment of HB 650 is inappropriate.
Chief Cunningham’s claim that disagreements will escalate to homicide is unreasonable: across the state over 330,000 permittees have had 16 years of opportunity to become violent and have not. The Chief’s concern is similar to those expressed earlier against “shall issue” laws; there was to be “blood in the street” and “lead flying through the air”. These fears have not been realized and, like concern of disagreements escalating to shoot-outs, are unjustified. The Chief himself admits that, “Concealed carry permittees are very much law-abiding.” Why do you mistrust them?
Your ordinance is illegal, irrational, unjustifiable and a clear example of disrespect for both state law and the Constitutional rights of free Americans.
It must be rescinded immediately.
I will be following progress through Grass Roots North Carolina.
Sincerely,
A concerned NC voter
GRNC is preparing to take appropriate legal action and needs to identify local plaintiffs.
- Plaintiffs are currently needed for actions within Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Greenville and Smithfield. Please contact alert@grnc.org.
- Other municipalities may be added.
- Everyone should carefully monitor municipal ordinances, particularly those recently enacted.
- Any restrictions beyond “a playground, an athletic field, a swimming pool, or an athletic facility” should be immediately reported to alert@grnc.org.
About:
Grass Roots North Carolina/Forum for Firearms Education is a non-profit, all volunteer organization devoted to educating the public about trends which abridge the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, and engaging in grass roots activism to preserve those freedoms. Formed in 1994 to conduct a highly successful rally for the Second Amendment, GRNC has gone on to conduct projects like “Remember in November: A Gun Owner’s Guide to Voting,” bringing concealed carry to North Carolina. Visit:www.grnc.org
