Screwing Up HB 937

It was not bad enough that the North Carolina House didn't concur with the Senate on the changes to HB 937 but now the House sponsor Rep. Jacqueline Schaffer (R-Mecklenburg) and House chair of the Conference Committee is proposing to make it worse. I could make snide comments about Mecklenburg County politicians such as Tillis, Schaffer, and McCrory screwing up the state for the rest of the 99 counties but I won't.

Grass Roots North Carolina has the details below in an alert sent out late last night.

A DEAL TO PUNISH GUN OWNERS

HB 937 was making the partial repeal of the current Jim Crow-era pistol permit system look like a reality. Then, the political pressure mounted.

GRNC has learned that the partial repeal of the current, old-fashioned system is in jeopardy, and worse, the current system might become even more complicated and restrictive. The NRA has not “signed off” on the partial repeal of the old permit system, and worse, someone has convinced HB 937 sponsor, Rep. Jacqueline Michelle Schaffer, to modify the language such that NICS checks are to be required for pistols purchased with permits more than 30 days old.

There are two problems with this:

1. The NCSA has already said that NICS checks are not adequate. So why subject law-abiding gun owners to additional pointless background checks?
2. According to GRNC President, Paul Valone, "This action would punish innocent gun owners for the malfeasance of the NCSA, and is unacceptable!"

Speaker Tillis, Representative Schaffer and Governor McCrory are poised to bow to the NCSA pressure. This would be a major sellout of North Carolina gun owners. If political pressure pushes these politicians to punish us, GRNC may encourage gun owners to sit out the 2014 midterm elections. The Speaker, Rep. Schaffer, Gov. McCrory and all of the Republicans in Raleigh need to know that they can’t take gun owners for granted, and any anti-gun actions will not be tolerated. See below to learn what you can do to let these politicians know what you think of their proposed anti-gun deal.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

PHONE SPEAKER TILLIS, REPRESENTATIVE SCHAFFER AND GOVERNOR McCRORY.
E-MAIL THE SPEAKER, REP. SCHAFFER AND THE GOVERNOR.

CONTACT INFO

Speaker Tillis: 919-733-3451

Rep. Schaffer: 919-733-5886

Governor McCrory: (919) 814-2000

Phone them and tell them that you know about their anti-gun scheme, and you won't be taken for granted. Tell them that following through on the plan to worsen our already old-fashioned pistol permit system may hurt all Republicans in Raleigh by forcing you to consider sitting out the 2014 midterm elections.

Use the following e-mail addresses and link to deliver the message below:

Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net

Jacqueline.Schaffer@ncleg.net

E-mail the Governor using this link:

http://www.governor.state.nc.us/contact/email-pat

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "Don't Punish Gun Owners"

Dear Speaker Tillis, Representative Schaffer, and Governor McCrory:

I have recently learned of a compromise being considered regarding HB 937, and I am writing to tell you that making our state’s outdated pistol permit system even worse than it already is will not help your esteem in the eyes of gun owners. Simply leaving the current Jim Crow-era system in place would be bad enough. However, what is being proposed would create a system that is even more difficult for law-abiding citizens to navigate than the current system. The new proposal would add a new thirty-day limit to permit validity, which would then require a point-of-sale NICS check. This is not acceptable.

It is the decades-long malfeasance of the NCSA and their support of a current system that has allowed the “arming felons” loophole to remain in place. Keeping this old-fashioned system, and then making it yet even more complicated and unjust is not an improvement. In fact, if this new restriction to the current permit system is added, I, and surely thousands of other gun owners in North Carolina, may sit out the 2014 midterm elections. Gun owning voters will not be taken for granted.

I strongly urge you to stand firm against the political pressure to compromise at the expense of gun owners. This is not an acceptable compromise by any stretch, and if it happens, the Republicans will be held responsible, and they will feel it at the polls.

I will be monitoring the status of this issue via Grass Roots North Carolina alerts.

Respectfully,