What Is Good Moral Character?

North Carolina HB110 and SB90 as currently written were meant to allow the protection of a religious congregation that rented a school building for their services. It was even titled, "The Religious Assembly Security and 6 Protection Act of 2019." It would allow those with a concealed handgun permit to carry a handgun on school property after school hours while in a building used for religious services. In other words, a person could serve as church security.

The NC Senate Judiciary Committee in its infinite wisdom is proposing to gut the bill and change it into one dealing with pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits. It would change the cost of a pistol purchase permit from $5 to $25 but would now allow unlimited numbers of purchases on the same permit for five years. That proposal has the anti-rights forces such as NCGV in an uproar because there was no limit on how many handguns you could buy with one background check.

More importantly, the proposed committee substitute would apply the same "good moral character" requirement for a pistol purchase permits (now called a Class B Handgun Permit) to the NC Concealed Handgun Permit. What is good moral character? We don't know because it is such an amorphous phrase. It is right up there with "justifiable need" as many May-Issue permit states use as a criteria. Does someone who writes angry letters to the editor or has a Confederate flag hanging in their basement lack good moral character? Would an avowed atheist be considered to lack good moral character if the local sheriff was a deacon in his or her fundamentalist church?

The proposed committee substitute which isn't even published on the General Assembly's website is being pushed by the North Carolina Sheriffs Association and their director Eddie Caldwell. It is a power move on their part as all revenue from all permits would now go to the sheriff rather than being shared with the NC Department of Public Safety. Thanks to dedicated volunteers in Grass Roots North Carolina who keep their ear to the ground we even know about this PCS. The staff attorney prepared this bare bones summary which omits the key issue regarding the good moral character requirement.

This proposed committee substitute must be stopped as it would convert our shall-issue permit into a may-issue permit through the "good moral character" requirement. Grass Roots North Carolina has prepared the following alert asking people to both call and write the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as Republican leaders and say NO.

SHERIFFS GRAB POWER TO DENY PERMITS

Links for social media: https://tinyurl.com/y3w7syp9 OR https://www.grnc.org/defend-your-rights/recent-grnc-alerts/1068-senate-republicans-to-gut-concealed-carry This is not a drill, and this is not a joke. Republicans in Raleigh are in the process of gutting NC’s “shall issue” concealed carry permit application structure... Regarding concealed carry permit (CHP) applications, we are furious (yes, furious ) to be forced to announce that the Republicans you sent to Raleigh have snuck language into the Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) of a bill that would, in essence, transform North Carolina from a “SHALL ISSUE” state into a “MAY ISSUE” state. We at GRNC are incensed and you ought to be as well. As you know, GRNC engineered NC's "shall issue" concealed carry law in 1995. Since then, GRNC has been instrumental in greatly improving it with restaurant carry, limited school/campus carry and more. We're not about to stand by and watch a naked power grab by NC's sheriffs, aided by Republican senators, roll back all of our progress. Are You of “Good Moral Character?” Last week, in Raleigh, Republicans snuck new language into a PCS for Senate Bill S90 ("Protect Religious Meeting Places") (=H110), and it’s worth noting that, initially, S90 was not even written to deal with the concealed carry application process. It’s also worth noting that before the poisonous PCS, S90 was a promising pro-gun bill. Yet, the PCS language strips “shall issue” status from the people and confers “may issue” power to your county sheriff. According to the PCS, a sheriff can deny CHPs by claiming applicants are not of “Good Moral Character,” the same shameful Jim Crow-era language that still exists on Pistol Purchase Permit applications, which GRNC has been fighting to eliminate. And you’ve probably guessed already: there is no strict definition for “good moral character,” and truly, no definition would suffice in this context anyway. Therefore (and conveniently), lacking “good moral character,” grounds for denying a CHP, is an open-ended label that any sheriff could attach to any applicant for any reason. Shifting Power from Citizen to Sheriff Lest you wonder, “good moral character” has nothing to do with an applicant’s criminal history. Exhaustive, indeed intrusive, criminal and medical background checks, and (de facto) long waiting periods are already part of the CHP application process. The sheriff’s personal, subjective and nebulous analysis of your character can have no legitimate purpose. The only clear purpose of this language in S90’s PCS is to take power away from you, the law-abiding citizen, and hand it to your county sheriff to lord over you, so he can withhold your rights at will. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Sheriffs would never use this new power to deny permits to qualified people.” Yet, if they’d never use their newfound power, why enshrine it in our state’s laws? It can have only one purpose, and if there is no intention to use it (now or later), it would not have been proposed as substitute language for S90. What You Can Do Are you prepared to live in a state that treats gun rights the way California does—like “gun privileges?” Are you ready to cede your Natural rights to your county’s sheriff, so he can ration them back to you as he sees fit? If not, please join other gun rights supporters in putting an immediate halt to this attack on your gun rights (from the Republicans no less!). Once again, we must remind these politicians who “brung ‘em” to the dance, and it looks like we’ll have to be more stern than usual. Below, see how you can easily contact Senate Judiciary Committee members (and Sen. Berger) to tell them, emphatically, that any vote, indeed any support whatsoever, for S90’s Proposed Committee Substitute will be considered a severe and blatant anti-gun action!  Support "Rights Watch International" Learn more about Rights Watch International You shop. Amazon Gives. (What is Amazon Smile?)

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

EMAIL MEMBERS OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Use the copy/paste email list provided below and the copy/paste text provided under ‘Deliver This Message.  PHONE REPUBLICAN LEADERS & YOUR SENATOR: This is serious and so phone calls to committee chairs and to your own senator are just as important as sending an email message. Call today and leave a message; call Monday and call Tuesday. That's how important this is. Please use the phone numbers provided below to contact Judiciary Committee leaders. Also, please call your own senator (find contact details below). When you reach each senator's office, tell him or her: I am a gun rights voter, and I am enraged that Republicans are seeking to force a huge step backwards for gun rights in our state. The ostensibly pro-gun party should be ashamed to be identified as the party that introduced Senate Bill 90's PCS language, which would grant "may issue" power to sheriffs for Concealed Carry Permits, stripping citizens of the unalienable portion of unalienable rights. Any Senator supporting this PCS will be considered anti-gun, and will pay at the polls. Thank you. ATTEND TUESDAY'S COMMITTEE HEARING: The presence of gun rights voters at this meeting is critical. Committee members must know that we see what they're trying to do, and that we're serious about stopping them. Please attend Tuesday's committee meeting. You may have an opportunity to speak, so arrive early in case you need to sign up. Find details below. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated. NC Senate Judiciary Committee, Copy/Paste Email List: Dan.Bishop@ncleg.net; Dan.Blue@ncleg.net; Danny.Britt@ncleg.net; Harry.Brown@ncleg.net; Jim.Burgin@ncleg.net; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net; Jim.Davis@ncleg.net; Toby.Fitch@ncleg.net; Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net; Rick.Horner@ncleg.net; Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net; Jeff.Jackson@ncleg.net; Natasha.Marcus@ncleg.net; Mujtaba.Mohammed@ncleg.net; Paul.Newton@ncleg.net; Terry.VanDuyn@ncleg.net; Phil.Berger@ncleg.net Senate Member Phone Senator Danny Britt, Jr. Senate Judiciary Committee Co-chair (919) 733-5651 Senator Warren Daniel Senate Judiciary Committee Co-chair (919) 715-7823 Senator Phil Berger Senate President Pro Tempore (919) 733-5708 Please call your senator, too. Need name/contact information? Click Here and select the 'NC Senate' option to find your senator. Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee Attend to Stop the Gutting of Concealed Carry WHEN:  Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 10:00 am WHERE:  NCGA Legislative Building Room 1124/1224 16 West Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27601 IMPORTANT NOTES: Please arrive early to allow extra time to park and to get through building security. 60 minutes early is recommended. Please dress for the press. Business attire preferred. Please no inflammatory slogans on clothing or otherwise. Please bring a roll-up paper sign with the following message on it: "SENATOR BERGER: DON'T GUT CONCEALED CARRY"

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "Don’t Gut Concealed Carry"   Dear Senator: I have just learned of the Republican Party’s effort to transform North Carolina’s concealed carry permit (CHP) application structure from “shall issue” to “may issue.” I see that Senate Judiciary Committee members have snuck language into S90’s Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) that would grant sheriffs unchecked power to deny concealed carry permits to any applicant, any time, for effectively any reason. The PCS’s language, which poisons an otherwise pro-gun bill, allows a sheriff to declare that an applicant, any applicant, is not of “good moral character.” This is the same shameful Jim Crow-era language that still exists on the Pistol Purchase Permit application, language that ought to be removed (not added elsewhere). Of course, “good moral character” has no particular definition, nor would any be satisfactory given the context. Exhaustive and intrusive background checks and (de facto) long waiting periods are already part of the CHP application process. The sheriff’s personal, subjective and nebulous analysis of an applicant’s “character” has precisely zero legitimacy. Clearly, its only purpose is to wrest power from the law-abiding citizen and hand it to our county sheriffs to lord over the citizens, so sheriffs can withhold Natural rights by fiat. This is unacceptable! I am incensed that the committee members, especially those in the Republican Party, would even consider such an anti-gun scheme. North Carolina is not California, it is not New York, and gun voters will not allow this state to transform into one of these states in the context of the Second Amendment. Be warned: Any favorable vote, even the slightest measure of support for S90’s PCS, with its “good moral character” clause, will be perceived as a threat to every gun rights voter in this state, myself included. Do not doubt it, backing S90’s PCS will be recorded as an extreme anti-gun action! Put a stop to S90’s anti-gun PCS now. I will be monitoring your actions on this critical matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina Respectfully,

UPDATE: My sources in GRNC tell me the bill has been pulled from the committee calendar. It appears the committee heard from you.

GRNC Alert - Federal Gun Control Vote This Week

Grass Roots North Carolina released an alert concerning votes on HR 8 and HR 1112 which may be coming this week. The first mandates universal background checks for all purchases and transfers while the second changes the procedure for a "hold" on NICS checks. Tom Gresham has written about this combination and the danger it poses. While a Democrat president might not use emergency powers to declare an emergency over "gun violence" (sic), it has been threatened by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. When you add the combination of these two bills to a declared emergency, you could have a perfect storm for the gun culture. That, of course, is the intent of all these type of bills - to make it so hard to purchase or own a firearm that most people will just give up.

FEDERAL GUN CONTROL VOTING THIS WEEK

As you know, Democrats in Washington are pushing dangerous gun control bills, and it appears the US House will be voting on these measures this week… After assuming power in the US House, the anti-gun party went right to work pushing heavy-duty gun control---two bills particularly. In brief, H.R. 8 (Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019) makes private firearms transfers a crime, while H.R. 1112 (Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019) establishes a nationwide waiting period for gun purchases. Although bills such as these seem like “Democrat” bills that would never make it through the Republican-held Senate, don’t be so sure. As it stands, these bills are labeled “bi-partisan” because some less reliable Republican lawmakers (read: RINOs), have co-sponsored them. This allows for the following scenario: If these bills have bi-partisan support, they’ll likely pass the House easily, even if a few conservative Democrats vote against them. As it stands, no less than five Republicans have signed on to H.R. 8. So far, H.R. 1112 has only one Republican co-sponsor, but it can still be labeled bi-partisan, and is quite likely to pass the House. Other than the co-sponsors, it’s anyone’s guess how many other unreliable Republicans will vote for one or both of these bills. If there are Republicans in the House who sign on to these oppressive gun control laws, who’s to say that certain “moderate” Republicans in the Senate won’t do the same? While it’s true that we have a Republican executive, it’s also true that President Trump has dithered on questions of gun control. He has supported so-called “red flag” laws, which arbitrarily deny due process and strip citizens of their Second Amendment rights by bureaucratic whim. Also, by executive fiat the president recently banned bump stock devices. By these examples, you can see there is no guarantee that the president would veto a gun control bill, and there is even reason to believe that he would happily sign into law certain gun control measures. In the very possible scenario outlined above, one can see that there is real risk here, and things could start sliding the wrong direction this week! Clearly, it’s up to us, the people, to stop this. It appears that the US House will be voting on gun control measures this week... ... so please, as soon as possible, contact your representative and demand that he or she continue to recognize and vigorously defend guaranteed human rights. Below, see how you can easily email and phone your Republican US House Representative and demand these very things.  Support "Rights Watch International" Learn more about Rights Watch International You shop. Amazon Gives. (What is Amazon Smile?)

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

PHONE AND EMAIL YOUR REPUBLICAN US HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: If your House rep. is a Republican, inform him or her that you are well aware of the gun control bills being proposed in the US House (H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112). Insist that he or she oppose these bills, and by doing so, vigorously defend the Natural rights guaranteed by the Constitution.  Tell him or her that nothing short of unwavering resistance to these leftist gun control bills will be acceptable. Below is a phone number list and email form links for North Carolina Republicans in the US House. For the electronic message, use the copy/paste text provided under ‘Deliver This Message.’ If you don’t know who your representative is, click here to find that information. (On the right, toward the top, provide your zip code and then click LOOK UP). PHONE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN McCARTHY if your representative is not a Republican, or if you live in the 3rd or 9th district (currently unfilled seats). Tell Rep. McCarthy that you expect Republican leadership to live up to the party platform, and push all Republicans to stand firm on the Second Amendment (vote 'NO' on H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112). Contact information for Rep. McCarthy is also below. PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Also, bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated. CONTACT INFO Republican Rep. Name (District) Phone Number Contact Form Rep. George Holding (2)    (202) 225-3032 https://holding.house.gov/contact/ Rep. Virginia Foxx (5) (202) 225-2071 https://foxx.house.gov/connect/default.aspx Rep. Mark Walker (6) (202) 225-3065 https://walker.house.gov/contact/email Rep. David Rouzer (7) (202) 225-2731 https://rouzer.house.gov/contact/email Rep. Richard Hudson (8) (202) 225-3715 https://hudson.house.gov/email-me/ Rep. Patrick McHenry (10) (202) 225-2576 https://mchenry.house.gov/contact/ Rep. Mark Meadows (11) (202) 225-6401 https://meadows.house.gov/contact/ Rep. Ted Budd (13) (202) 225-4531 https://budd.house.gov/contact/ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (202) 225-4000 Call if your district's seat is not held by a Republican or is currently unfilled (3rd & 9th).

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject (where applicable): "Oppose Gun Control Bills H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112"   Dear Representative: I am writing to express unequivocal opposition to the gun control bills recently introduced in the House of Representatives. In general, gun control is an affront to a free people and a violation of the human rights recognized and protected by the Constitution. Bills recently introduced, H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112, are no exception and are truly egregious examples. It’s discouraging to see that both bills carry bipartisan sponsorship, but I want to make it clear that I expect you to stand for what is right, not what seems most expedient due to the perceived zeitgeist, nor out of a belief that there is virtue in all compromise. While compromise has its place, there can be none when it comes to questions of Natural human rights, particularly Second Amendment rights. Oppose H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112. Oppose them publicly and vigorously. This is the only proper and acceptable path for a member of the Republican Party, a party that has documented its broad support for the Second Amendment in its party platform. As my representative, I expect you to live up to this. I will be monitoring your actions on this matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina. Respectfully,

Reminder - NC School Safety Committee Meets In Raleigh On Wednesday

Just as a reminder that the NC Joint Legislative Committee on School Safety meets tomorrow in Raleigh. I've posted a couple of appeals for people to attend at least part of the day. Here is the latest one from GRNC.

If you can be there, be there!

LIBERTY NEEDS YOUR VOICE IN DEVELOPING NC’S SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

They Urgently Need YOU. Attend the Meeting For School Children's Safety. MEETING DETAILS: WHAT: House Select Committee on School Safety WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 9:00 AM (arrive an hour early if possible) WHERE: Legislative Office Building, Rm. 643 300 N. Salisbury Street Raleigh, NC (directions: https://www.ncleg.net/help/directions.html) NOTES: Dress for the press. Please dress professionally with no inflammatory slogans or the like on clothing. Arrive early. To deal with any parking issues, and to make sure you get a seat. Arriving at least one hour early is recommended. Here is a link for posting this to social media:  https://www.grnc.org/defend-your-rights/recent-grnc-alerts/996-grnc-alert-03-18-18-help-develop-nc-s-school-safety-plan Wednesday, state legislators are hearing arguments that will inform life-and-death decisions regarding school security.  This Meeting Needs Your Voice - Please be there At the state legislature, the House Select Committee on School Safety will be meeting on Wednesday at 9:00 AM. There may be opportunities for public comments, and it is critical that this not be a one-sided discussion. You Need to be there, or the anti-gun left is going to run the show with your children's lives at stake.  Due to the deadly serious nature of this topic, if you've never been to a committee meeting before, now is the time!  Below, find details on the upcoming meetings. Gun-free Zones: the Psychotic-Killer Loophole The most effective way to reduce mass public shootings is for our elected officials to wise up and eliminate dangerous gun-free zones (GFZs).  Along with improved security provisions, such as fewer unlocked entrances and generally beefed up security, the most effective way to protect school children is to proclaim that any attack will likely be met with rapid armed resistance from an unpredictable source; that source would be teachers and other school personnel.  Remove the ShacklesOf course, teachers who do not want to carry defensive weapons should not be required to. However, the SHACKLES MUST BE removed from those willing to mount effective resistance should the worst occur.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
EMAIL THE REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE MEMBERS: CLICK HERE to generate one of two email messages, and then CLICK HERE to send an email to the other half of the committee Republicans. After each click, check your email program. An email should have been generated for you. Simply add you name to the bottom and hit ‘send.’  (This 'click' method likely won't work with gmail. Please use the delivery method/information listed under 'Deliver This Message' if using gmail).  If an email was not generated automatically, or wasn’t generated properly, send the email using the copy/paste email list and the copy/paste text provided below, under ‘Deliver This Message.’ ATTEND THE SCHOOL SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING: It’s critical that the public be involved in these meetings, especially because it’s the safety of the citizenry’s own children that is being debated. Practical and effective solutions from concerned citizens like you must be discussed, and ought to dominate the conversation. But without you there to speak, or at least to support the speakers by your presence, that may not happen. Please attend. Find the meeting details below.
DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Copy/Paste email List(s):  Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net, Bill.Brawley@ncleg.net, Brenden.Jones@ncleg.net, Chris.Malone@ncleg.net, Cody.Henson@ncleg.net, Craig.Horn@ncleg.net, Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net, David.Lewis@ncleg.net, Donna.White@ncleg.net, Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net, Harry.Warren@ncleg.net, Holly.Grange@ncleg.net, Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net, Jason.Saine@ncleg.net, Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net, Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net, John.Bell@ncleg.net, John.Faircloth@ncleg.net, John.Torbett@ncleg.net, Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net, Justin.Burr@ncleg.net, Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net, Larry.Strickland@ncleg.net, Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net, Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net, Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net, Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net, Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net, Ted.Davis@ncleg.net *Due to the limitations of some email programs and some spam filtering systems, it may be best to send this email in multiple groups. Use the copy/paste emails above, as separated into groups, to send the message to the respective set of recipients. Suggested Subject:  "For School Safety: End Gun-Free Zones"   Dear Committee Member: I am writing today in reference to your service on the House Select Committee on School Safety. Since the recent disturbing events in Florida, all the usual gun-control voices have called for all the usual ineffective and unconstitutional schemes. None of these useless and ominous notions are acceptable, and I insist that you not lend them credence during your upcoming committee meetings. I do expect you to discuss school security concepts that are actually effective and will truly result in the protection of school children. Removing the shackles from school employees who have concealed handgun permits would be the simplest and most effective solution. The legislature could do this almost immediately by removing the dangerous gun-free zone (GFZ) status from school buildings and grounds. Teachers and other school staff are no danger to students. If they were, we wouldn’t allow them unfettered, daily access to our children. Yet, the threat of swift armed resistance from an unpredictable source is a highly effective deterrent. This is why a full 98% of all mass public shooting since 1950 have occurred in so-called “gun-free” zones. Should the worst occur, teachers defending their students with deadly force is not such a terrible thing when you imagine the alternative. Indeed, no imagination is necessary, as recent events have shown us exactly what the alternative looks like. A large number of teachers are already willing and ready for classroom carry. A recent Elon University Poll of North Carolina teachers (which skewed heavily Democrat) revealed that roughly 20% of teachers are open to the idea of concealed handguns in the classroom. Consider that the number of every day citizens who legally carry a gun in our state is something less than 10%. This means the number of teachers willing to consider classroom carry is at least twice the number in the general population who already carry a handgun. This is great news, and further evidence that dangerous GFZs have run their course.  Our children’s very lives are at stake. I demand that your time on the School Safety committee be used to consider and implement only practical and effective policies. I will be monitoring your actions on this matter through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts. Respectfully,

GRNC Alert About Legislative School Safety Meeting

As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the meeting on Wednesday of the NC Joint Legislative Committee on School Safety, here is an alert from Grass Roots North Carolina with more information and a request to email committee members if you can't attend.

HELP DEVELOP NC'S SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN

Wednesday, state legislators are hearing arguments that will inform life-and-death decisions regarding school security. Please be there … 
This Meeting Needs Your Voice
At the state legislature, the House Select Committee on School Safety will be meeting on Wednesday at 9:00 AM. There may be opportunities for public comments, and it is critical that this not be a one-sided discussion. We all know that the anti-gun-rights crowd will have people there to demand policies that will only make things worse. Due to the deadly serious nature of this topic, ineffective, feel-good schemes cannot be allowed to take hold. Please make every effort to attend these meetings. Below, find details on the upcoming meetings.

Gun-free Zones: the Psychotic-Killer Loophole
The most effective way to reduce mass public shootings is for our elected officials to wise up and eliminate dangerous gun-free zones (GFZs). Documented evidence tells us that criminals and psychotics carefully choose GFZs to commit their heinous acts, because they know they will not be met with timely armed resistance.

All but two of U.S. mass shootings since 1950 have occurred in so-called
“gun-free” zones.
That’s 98%!

Along with improved security provisions, such as fewer unlocked entrances and generally beefed up security, the most effective way to protect school children is to proclaim that any attack will likely be met with rapid armed resistance from an unpredictable source; that source would be teachers and other school personnel. 

Remove the Shackles
Of course, teachers who do not want to carry defensive weapons should not be required to. However, the shackles must be removed from those willing to mount effective resistance should the worst occur. Some seem very concerned about teachers using weapons during a dire emergency, but consider the alternative: bullets flying in only one direction and resulting in the deaths of many innocent and helpless people. Any objection to evening those odds seems entirely unreasonable. Let’s demand that legislators close the psychotic-killer loophole!

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

EMAIL THE REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE MEMBERS: CLICK HERE to generate one of two email messages, and then CLICK HERE to send an email to the other half of the committee Republicans. After each click, check your email program. An email should have been generated for you. Simply add you name to the bottom and hit ‘send.’  (This 'click' method likely won't work with gmail. Please use the delivery method/information listed under 'Deliver This Message' if using gmail). If an email was not generated automatically, or wasn’t generated properly, send the email using the copy/paste email list and the copy/paste text provided below, under ‘Deliver This Message.’ ATTEND THE SCHOOL SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING: It’s critical that the public be involved in these meetings, especially because it’s the safety of the citizenry’s own children that is being debated. Practical and effective solutions from concerned citizens like you must be discussed, and ought to dominate the conversation. But without you there to speak, or at least to support the speakers by your presence, that may not happen. Please attend. Find the meeting details below.  MEETING DETAILS: WHAT: House Select Committee on School Safety WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 9:00 AM (arrive an hour early if possible) WHERE: Legislative Office Building, Rm. 643 300 N. Salisbury Street Raleigh, NC (directions: https://www.ncleg.net/help/directions.html)     NOTES: Dress for the press. Please dress professionally with no inflammatory slogans or the like on clothing.   Arrive early. To deal with any parking issues, and to make sure you get a seat. Arriving at least one hour early is recommended.

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Copy/Paste email List(s): 

Allen.McNeill@ncleg.net, Bill.Brawley@ncleg.net, Brenden.Jones@ncleg.net, Chris.Malone@ncleg.net, Cody.Henson@ncleg.net, Craig.Horn@ncleg.net, Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.net, David.Lewis@ncleg.net, Donna.White@ncleg.net, Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.net, Harry.Warren@ncleg.net, Holly.Grange@ncleg.net, Jamie.Boles@ncleg.net, Jason.Saine@ncleg.net, Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.net,

Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.net, John.Bell@ncleg.net, John.Faircloth@ncleg.net, John.Torbett@ncleg.net, Josh.Dobson@ncleg.net, Justin.Burr@ncleg.net, Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.net, Larry.Strickland@ncleg.net, Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net, Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net, Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net, Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.net, Stephen.Ross@ncleg.net, Ted.Davis@ncleg.net

*Due to the limitations of some email programs and some spam filtering systems, it may be best to send this email in multiple groups. Use the copy/paste emails above, as separated into groups, to send the message to the respective set of recipients.

---

Suggested Subject: 

"For School Safety: End Gun-Free Zones"  

---

Dear Committee Member:

I am writing today in reference to your service on the House Select Committee on School Safety.

Since the recent disturbing events in Florida, all the usual gun-control voices have called for all the usual ineffective and unconstitutional schemes. None of these useless and ominous notions are acceptable, and I insist that you not lend them credence during your upcoming committee meetings. I do expect you to discuss school security concepts that are actually effective and will truly result in the protection of school children.

Removing the shackles from school employees who have concealed handgun permits would be the simplest and most effective solution. The legislature could do this almost immediately by removing the dangerous gun-free zone (GFZ) status from school buildings and grounds. Teachers and other school staff are no danger to students. If they were, we wouldn’t allow them unfettered, daily access to our children. Yet, the threat of swift armed resistance from an unpredictable source is a highly effective deterrent. This is why a full 98% of all mass public shooting since 1950 have occurred in so-called “gun-free” zones. Should the worst occur, teachers defending their students with deadly force is not such a terrible thing when you imagine the alternative. Indeed, no imagination is necessary, as recent events have shown us exactly what the alternative looks like.

A large number of teachers are already willing and ready for classroom carry. A recent Elon University Poll of North Carolina teachers (which skewed heavily Democrat) revealed that roughly 20% of teachers are open to the idea of concealed handguns in the classroom. Consider that the number of every day citizens who legally carry a gun in our state is something less than 10%. This means the number of teachers willing to consider classroom carry is at least twice the number in the general population who already carry a handgun. This is great news, and further evidence that dangerous GFZs have run their course. 

Our children’s very lives are at stake. I demand that your time on the School Safety committee be used to consider and implement only practical and effective policies. I will be monitoring your actions on this matter through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,