Tag search result

As expected, the state House on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow people with permits to carry concealed weapons to bring their firearms into bars, restaurants that serve alcohol, college campuses and parks.

Approval of what is likely the major gun bill of the session – by a vote of 78-42 -- came after lengthy debate on Monday and Tuesday. Democrats emphatically complained that the GOP leadership repeatedly thwarted their efforts to amend the bill.

Republicans used a legislative maneuver to table proposed amendments 12 times (once for a Republican amendment). Before Tuesday’s session, Democratic lawmakers called a news conference to complain about the tactic limiting the debate.

The UNC faculty on Friday approved a resolution opposing two bills pending in the state legislature that would allow guns on campuses.

The resolution is a statement of support for UNC President Tom Ross' public statement against HB937. It notes the campuses are visited by children of all ages and other visitors, that the university's mission is to provide a safe environment, and that law enforcement officers already offer protection.

The resolution also opposes SB190. The bills would allow gun owners with permits to carry concealed weapons to keep their firearms locked in their vehicles, except for defensive measures. SB190 hasn't moved out of committee, but HB937 is scheduled to be voted on by the full House on Monday night.

East Carolina University Chancellor Steve Ballard and UNC Wilmington Chancellor Gary L. Miller have both come out against 937.

Paul Valone, president of the gun-rights group Grass Roots North Carolina, this week issued a response to Moss' statement. "Perhaps your view from the Ivory Tower is obstructed, Mr. Ross, so allow me to describe the landscape: The University of North Carolina is doing a woefully inadequate job of protecting its students, staff, faculty and visitors," Valone wrote.

Repealing the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law, requiring gun owners to carry liability insurance, conducting universal background checks for all private firearm transfers, limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

Those are some of the provisions in a bill filed Wednesday by four House Democrats in a comprehensive gun-control bill that, they acknowledge, has no chance of passing. But, co-sponsor Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham said, it carries a message.

“We worked hard to put together a bill that covers about every issue we feel ought to be involved to have a safer North Carolina,” Luebke said Wednesday afternoon.

***And with that, Dome's Morning Memo says, let the games begin. Welcome to Wednesday, an action-packed day for politicians on Jones Street and beyond. Here's our look at the day ahead and a round-up of what's being said.***

Freshman Rep. Michael Speciale, a Republican from New Bern, says he studies the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence all the time. The ex-Marine has cranked out a lot of bills in his first session that reflect his interests and, presumably, his constituents, even if they won’t necessarily become law.

Just Tuesday, he filed two bills and a resolution with sweeping titles that summon the imagery of constitutional battles for freedom: Enabling Patriots Act (a gun bill that, according to its title would protect citizens against “violent sociopaths”), Protect Against Suspension of Rights (directing the attorney general to sue to determine if the president's war powers are constitutional, and, if they are not, establishing protections for the citizenry), and State’s Right to Claim Sovereignty (a resolution based on the 10th Amendment).

The gun bill, HB624, is the most substantive and, in fact, pulls together ideas from earlier efforts to ease gun restrictions, primarily: allowing guns on school grounds if they are locked in a vehicle or are carried by someone with a concealed weapon permit; allowing a concealed weapon permit-holder to carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol, and allowing concealed handgun on greenways, picnic areas and on other recreational grounds.

Another Speciale bill filed Tuesday would allow people convicted of non-violent felonies to regain gun rights in a shorter time. It’s just called Amend Firearms Restoration Law.

A bill that would make it a felony instead of a misdemeanor to fire a weapon inside a building, car or truck to frighten people inside appears headed for a full vote of the Senate.

The proposal by Sen. Peter Brunstetter, a Republican from Winston-Salem, was heard in a committee Thursday, where it faced a few technical questions from senators but drew no public comment. Since it was scheduled for discussion only, the bill will return to the judiciary committee next week and then likely head to the floor.

Brunstetter filed the bill to plug a gap in the law that makes it a felony to shoot into a building but only a misdemeanor to shoot inside. The gap was illuminated last October when a man walked into a Walmart in Kernersville one night and fired a gun into two flat-screen televisions and a wall.

More news from the sovereign country of North Carolina.

A gun bill filed Tuesday resurrects an attempt by former Rep. Glen Bradley that went nowhere last session. It would exempt from all federal regulations any firearm, accessory or ammunition made and kept in North Carolina.

A gun like that would have to be stamped with “Made in North Carolina.”

There’s a new twist in this year’s version, however: It says that any federal agent who tries to enforce federal firearm laws would be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Sponsors are Republican Reps. Bert Jones of Reidsville, Bryan Holloway of King, Rayne Brown of Lexington, and Chris Millis of Hampstead.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is asking North Carolina voters to fight back against proposed gun restrictions in Washington.

The Iowa-based group recently sent mailers emphasizing the stakes in the debate. "Say goodbye to your privacy, and your freedom to exercise a constitutional right without being monitored on a government list," the mailer states, suggesting any gun registries and buy-back programs amount to "mandatory confiscation."

The mailer urges people to call U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan, proving two phone numbers and two fax numbers for each. It arrived day after a group pushing for tougher gun laws held events across the state.

The main sponsor of this year's attempt to allow concealed handguns in restaurants that serve alcohol says the idea is still alive.

A House committee on Wednesday stripped out that portion of the bill, leaving only a section that would make confidential records of concealed weapon permit-holders in North Carolina. That bill is scheduled to come before the full House on Thursday afternoon.

Rep. Justin Burr, a Republican from Albemarle, says the restaurant provision will be considered by the General Assembly this session. Stripping it out of the bill Wednesday was "just to keep the conversation going," Burr said.

A recently filed bill in the Senate, in fact, would do the same thing: allow people who have concealed-carry permits to bring their handguns into restaurants that serve alcohol. Restaurant owners would still be able to ban guns from the premises.

The House last session approved an identical restaurant gun bill, but it stalled in the Senate. The restaurant industry had some initial objections to the bill, and some Republican legislators also had reservations.

The current version of the bill is HB17.

A trio of Democratic lawmakers have filed a bill aimed at better tracking people with mental health problems who apply for concealed handgun permits.

House Bil 344 would set a deadline of 48 hours – not including weekends or holidays – for superior court clerks to report to the national background check system records of in- and out-patient involuntary commitments for mental health treatment, and involuntary commitment for susbstance abuse for those determined to be a danger to themselves or others. Also reported would be records of people found not guilty by reason of insanity or for those who are found mentally incapable to stand trial in a criminal case.

The bill would also require clerks report if someone has successfully petitioned to remove a previous legal barrier to purchasing, possessing or transferring a firearm. Primary sponsors are Rep. Verla Insko of Chapel Hill, Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham and Rep. Rick Glazier of Fayetteville.

The federal background check system reportedly misses a large number of mental health records from the states.