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New GRNC Weapons Help Defend Your Gun Owner Rights
Open letter from GRNC president Paul Valone

New GRNC Weapons Help Defend Your Gun Owner Rights

Grass Roots North Carolina for Firearms Education

North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- Gun rights supporters: We have some exciting news in this GRNC Update.

If nearly 18 years of defending the Second Amendment have taught GRNC leadership anything, it is that we must consolidate our wins. GRNC-led passage of House Bill 650 will dramatically improve your ability to defend your family.

Beyond even one of the strongest Castle Doctrine laws in the country, concealed carry and municipal and state parks, and other improvements, the NC Wildlife Resources Commission affirmed that the bill facilitates both concealed and open carry in most state game lands.

But just as GRNC killed the “Rapist Protection Act” in 2000 and then “mopped up” by decimating the so-called “Million” Mom March in North Carolina, we must now leverage our victory and continue the push to roll back decades of encroachment on our freedoms.

In coming months, you will see dramatic changes as we increase the size and impact of Grass Roots North Carolina – the gun rights organization which you have made the most vocal in the state. New, vibrant media, new tools for activating nearly 400,000 North Carolina gun owners.

But the most important element is you. Without your help – not somebody else’s – we will not be able to effectively defend your rights.

GRNC WEBSITE
Many of you have asked for an updated GRNC web site. Now you have it. With menus that provide ready access to vital information, easily accessible legislative alerts, searchable content, and the ability to contact GRNC leadership on vital issues, the new site equips you to defend against new and insidious threats to your rights.

As always, check: www.GRNC.org

You will find the new site features easily accessible legislative alerts displayed on the home page together with drop down menus giving ready access to GRNC’s many entities and services such as the GRNC Legislative Action Team, GRNC Political Victory Fund, “Remember in November” project, membership forms and questions, and far more.

To give gun owners a better idea of GRNC’s nearly 18-year string of victories, other sections feature videos of notable speakers and events, video and audio clips of GRNC interviews, GRNC-PVF radio spots attacking anti-gun candidates, and photos of events such as the GRNC Solidarity March, GRNC “Million” Mom Countermarch, and more.

Because the site is still under construction, gun rights supporters should check back often for new features. A discussion forum will follow soon. If you find “glitches,” please contact: webmaster@GRNC.org

GRNC ‘YouTube’ CHANNEL
For gun owners increasingly active with social media, GRNC has also started a YouTube channel available at: www.youtube.com/user/GRNCFFE%20%20

Beyond GRNC media interviews and events, we will soon introduce issue-specific videos to promote the gun rights agenda, so bookmark it for future reference.

GRNC ON FACEBOOK
And as a reminder, you can become even more in touch with the Second Amendment community by via GRNC’s Facebook page, which is now linked to the home page of the new site or available at: www.facebook.com/pages/Grass-Roots-North-Carolina-GRNC/146962105319196

There you will find not only the ability to communicate with other North Carolina gun rights supporters, but GRNC alerts and updates, information about gun shows GRNC works, and even the occasional (when he can overcome social media phobia) comment by GRNC president Paul Valone.

Find Your Representatives

• NC STATE House & Senate: http://www.grnc.org/contact_reps.htm
• FEDERAL Congressman: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
• FEDERAL Senators: http://www.senate.gov/

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

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Twelve Big Wins for Gun Owners Dialing Back Government Powers

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, Va. --(Ammoland.com)- The final conference report on the combined Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science (CJS) and Transportation/Housing/Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations bills—also known as the “Mini-Bus,” was passed by both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, and has been signed into law.

One of the most important ways that Congress has protected the Second Amendment is through a number of general provisions included in various appropriations bills. Many of these provisions have been included in the bills for many years—some of the provisions go back almost three decades.

This conference report is no exception, as it contains 12 provisions that strengthen the Second Amendment and protect the American people.

Specifically, the conference report makes PERMANENT the following protections:

• Firearms Database/National Gun Registry Prohibition. No funds may be used to create, maintain or administer a database of firearms owners or their firearms. This prohibition has been in place since Fiscal Year 1979, and prevents the federal government from establishing a national gun registry.
• Former Firearms Dealers Information Retrieval Prohibition. No funds may be used to electronically retrieve personally identifying information gathered by federal firearms licensees. The provision prohibits the creation of a gun registry from dealers’ records that are required by law to be surrendered to the federal government when a dealer goes out of business. This provision has been included since FY 1997.
• Information Gathering Prohibition/24-Hour Destruction of Records. A prohibition on the use of funds to retain any information gathered as a part of an approved instant background check for more than 24 hours. This provision protects the privacy of law-abiding gun buyers by prohibiting gun buyers’ personal information about legal gun purchases from being retained by government authorities for more than 24 hours after a firearm background check. It has been included since FY 1999. In addition, the conference report adds two NEW provisions designed to bolster our gun rights and protect the Second Amendment from unelected bureaucrats who would twist the law to facilitate their gun-control agenda.
• Prohibit Funding for “Gun Walking” Operations. No funds may be used to knowingly transfer firearms to agents of drug cartels unless U.S. law enforcement personnel control or monitor the firearms at all time. This amendment is designed to prevent the Justice Department (or any government entity) from spending taxpayer dollars on “gun walking” programs like Operation Fast and Furious.
• Shotgun Importation Protections. Prohibits the Department of Justice from requiring imported shotguns to meet a “sporting purposes” test that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has used to prohibit the importation of shotguns with one or more features disliked by the Agency, such as adjustable stocks, extended magazine tubes, etc.

Finally, the conference report RETAINS the following provisions:

• Curio and Relic Definition. A prohibition on the use of funds to change the definition of a “curio or relic.” This provision protects the status of collectible firearms for future generations of firearms collectors.
• Physical Inventory Prohibition. Prohibition on a requirement to allow a physical inventory of Federal Firearms Licensees. The Clinton Administration proposed a rule in 2000 to require an annual inventory by all licensees. While the Bush Administration eventually withdrew the proposal, Congress has still passed this preventive provision every year since FY 2007.
  Business Activity. A prohibition on the use of funds to deny a Federal Firearms License (FFL) or renewal of an FFL on the basis of low business activity. This provision prohibits BATFE from denying federal firearms license applications or renewals based on a dealer’s low business volume alone.
• Firearms Trace Data Disclaimer. A requirement that any trace data released must include a disclaimer stating such trace data cannot be used to draw broad conclusion about firearms-related crime.
• Firearms Parts Export to Canada. A prohibition on the use of funds to require an export license for small firearms parts valued at less than $500 for export to Canada. This provision removed an unnecessary and burdensome requirement on U.S. gun manufacturers that was imposed under the Clinton Administration.
• Importation of Curios and Relics.A prohibition on the use of funds to arbitrarily deny importation of qualifying curio and relic firearms. This provision ensures that collectible firearms that meet all legal requirements for importation into the United States are not prevented from import by executive branch fiat.
  

  The Dreaded M1 Garand rifle feared by our current president and gun banners can continue to be imported under this rule.

• Transfer of BATFE Authority. A prohibition on the use of funds to transfer any duty or responsibility of the BATFE to any other agency or department. This provision was written in response to a Clinton Administration plan to transfer firearms enforcement to the FBI or Secret Service. It also prohibits the Executive branch from skirting the will of Congress by allowing another agency to implement policies the BATFE is prohibited from implementing.

About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org

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