Stop North Carolina’s Rash Of Restaurant Homicides
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 12:30 PMAfter 2 restaurant murders of disarmed victims in a single weekend, a permit-holder shoots perp.
Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education
North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- Could Senate Republicans have prevented the murder of Danielle Watson?
Danielle was a manager at the Flying Biscuit Café. Last weekend, while closing the restaurant, she was murdered by an ex-con recently released after doing time for armed robbery.
In a classic application of “Dial 911 & Die!” Charlotte police botched their response to her fiancés 911 call, and never even discovered her body, stabbed and left behind a dumpster, until the next day. It was the second Charlotte restaurant murder in a single weekend, highlighting the need to pass House Bill 111, “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants.”
Right now, concealed handgun permit-holders are prohibited from protecting their families anywhere alcohol is “sold and consumed,” which includes many restaurants. This includes not only restaurant patrons, but also restaurant workers, since the only people exempt from the ban are restaurant “owners and lessees.” For full details, see GRNC president Paul Valone’s article at: http://exm.nr/StopRestaurantHomicide
How it should end
Now contrast this with another restaurant crime, only one week later. Just across the South Carolina border, in Spartanburg, Dante Lamont Williams and another man entered the Waffle House on Chesnee Highway, both armed with handguns. But when they held customers at gunpoint, a patron who was a concealed handgun permit holder shot Williams, killing him. The other robber fled, and innocent lives were saved.
Republicans do nothing
Despite passing in the House, however, the bill is languishing in the Senate Judiciary I Committee, where Republican Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (Guilford, Rockingham) has so far refused the bill a hearing on the premise that the topic doesn’t “poll well.” Meanwhile, as Republicans dither and fret about polls, restaurant workers are dying.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:
Immediately email AND call
Republican leadership:
- Sen. Phil Berger, Senate President Pro Tem, at Phil.Berger@ncleg.net and (919) 733-5708
- Sen. Tom Apodaca, Senate Rules Chairman, at Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net, and (919) 733-5745
- Sen. Buck Newton, Senate Judiciary Chairman, at Buck.Newton@ncleg.net, and (919) 715-3030
Deliver This Message
(use subject line: STOP RESTAURANT HOMICIDE)
Dear Senator:
While House Bill 111, “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants,” languishes in the Senate Judiciary I Committee, restaurant workers are dying. In a single weekend, recently, Charlotte experienced two such murders, including that of 25-year-old Danielle Watson, a manager who was closing the Flying Biscuit Café when she was murdered by Mark Cox, an ex-con just released after doing time for armed robbery.
Police botched the 911 response, only finding her body behind a dumpster the next day, but it is your chamber that is preventing restaurant workers like Danielle from defending themselves: The Flying Biscuit has an on-premise alcohol consumption permit, where everyone but the “owner or lessee” is prohibited from protecting themselves with firearms.
Now contrast this with another restaurant crime, only one week later. Just across the South Carolina border, in Spartanburg, Dante Lamont Williams and another man entered the Waffle House on Chesnee Highway. Both men were armed with handguns. But when they held customers at gunpoint, a patron who was a concealed handgun permit holder shot Williams, killing him. The other robber fled, and innocent lives were saved.
Despite what newspaper editorials claim, nobody is advocating “drunks with guns.” As you well know, under HB 111, concealed handgun permit-holders will still be prohibited from imbibing alcohol.
Stop being a slave to polls, and start leading. Pass HB 111 to STOP RESTAURANT HOMICIDE. I will be monitoring your actions via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.
Respectfully,
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
