Gun voters presented a petition to Republican leadership demanding they move ‘constitutional carry’ bills.
Despite passing two committees in the NC House last year, House Bill 189, “Freedom to Carry NC,” continues to languish in the House Rules Committee after being pulled from the calendar for its floor vote at the last minute, reportedly due to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, who is reported to have said:
“We have passed a substantial bill dealing with some concerns about the Second Amendment. We have done away with the pistol purchase permit which was the number one goal of many of the gun rights groups for a long period of time. I just don’t know if there is a need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns.”
In an interview with Townhall Media’s “Cam & Co.,” Grass Roots North Carolina President Paul Valone recently responded:
“I guess it’s not a Bill of Rights anymore but a Bill of Needs, and the person who’s going to decide whether we ‘need’ Constitutional Carry or not is Phil Berger, self-appointed arbiter of needs.”
Republicans expect gun voter help in November: Will they get it?
Twenty-nine states have now passed constitutional carry, meaning that NC Republicans have fallen far behind their GOP brethren in other states. GOP candidates will undoubtedly seek support from Second Amendment voters in November. That is not necessarily assured, however, if Republicans forget, as the saying goes, “who ‘brung ‘em to the dance.”
GRNC volunteers present petition to Berger:
At a time which will be revealed to any member of the media who responds to this press release, GRNC volunteers will deliver many thousands of petitions, by hand truck, to Sen. Berger’s office.
Open letter sent to Sen. Berger
Dear Senator Berger:
Please accept my thanks for the work done by you and Senate Republicans in passing Senate Bill 41, “Guarantee 2nd Amend Freedom and Protections.” I confess, however, that I was taken aback when I heard you say the following: “We have passed a substantial bill dealing with some concerns about the Second Amendment. We have done away with the pistol purchase permit which was the number one goal of many of the gun rights groups for a long period of time. I just don’t know if there is a need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns.” [Emphasis added]
Your perception of “need” aside, I’m sure you agree that restoration of constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms should not be rationed. Over the decades, Americans’ rights – including the right to carry firearms for self-protection – have been steadily eroded. It was certainly not the Framers’ intention that a governmental permission slip be required to carry firearms, concealed or otherwise. House Bill 189, “Freedom to Carry NC,” is intended to restore the Framers’ ideals.
As I told Cam Edwards on Townhall Media’s highly popular “Cam & Co.”: “I guess it’s not a Bill of Rights anymore but a Bill of Needs, and the person who’s going to decide whether we ‘need’ Constitutional Carry or not is Phil Berger, self-appointed arbiter of needs.”
In passing constitutional carry, twenty-nine states have now done what North Carolina should have done long ago. That means North Carolina Republicans are now trailing the GOP in other states which have made significant inroads in restoring constitutional freedoms too long curtailed.
Although Republicans undoubtedly want support from gun voters in November, the reality is that North Carolina now falls within a distinct minority of “red” states which have failed to restore constitutionally guaranteed freedoms to their citizens, which may suppress critical voter turnout.
As you will see in the coming days, thousands of North Carolinians have already signed GRNC’s petition for passage of HB 189. I strongly urge you to use the opportunity, created by a supermajority that gun voters helped you secure, to join the twenty-nine other states that have now adopted some form of permitless or “constitutional” concealed carry by giving an immediate vote to HB 189.
Grass Roots North Carolina
Founded in 1994, Grass Roots North Carolina is an all-volunteer 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to preserving individual liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights with emphasis on the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
