GRNC.ORG

‘Grass Roots North Carolina … a potent lobbying force in the state’ - Patrik Jonsson, writing for The Christian Science Monitor

Dear Gun Rights Supporter:

“…a potent lobbying force in the state.” That is how The Christian Science Monitor reporter Patrik Jonsson describes GRNC in the cover story for its March 12 edition.

Detailing how Americans have increasingly embraced the Second Amendment in general and concealed carry in particular, the piece says:

“Paul Valone is another reason America is more heavily armed today. One day in 1994, Mr. Valone, an airline pilot, was watching lawmakers on C-SPAN press their case for an assault weapons ban in Congress. Outraged, he called around to various gun rights groups to find out what he could do. Frustrated with their response, he eventually launched his own group, Grass Roots North Carolina, which has evolved into a potent lobbying force in the state.

While many people automatically assume the expansion of gun rights is linked to the power of the National Rifle Association (NRA) – which does remain a magnum political force in Washington and across much of the country – others say it is the effectiveness of smaller, and often more uncompromising, groups like Valone's that are shifting the debate. Many of them are run by just a handful of committed activists who spread their frequently tart messages through pamphlets, blogs, and massive e-mail lists.

It was Valone's group, for instance, that largely wrote the state's recently passed park carry law and a more general concealed weapons statute before that. When a bill mandating stricter storage for guns at home was introduced in the state legislature in 2001, Grass Roots North Carolina helped defeat it by branding the measure as "the rapist protection act."

Currently, the group is pushing to expand the concealed carry law so people can bring guns into restaurants. It is also in court trying to thwart the ability of authorities to suspend concealed-carry permits during declared emergencies. The lawsuit stems from an incident a few years ago in King, N.C., where a looming snowstorm sparked a temporary weapons ban out of concern that people in the middle of a crisis may be too quick to solve problems with the barrel of a gun.

Similarly, in 2010, Gov. Bev Perdue (D) prohibited carrying guns in public in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Earl, which coincided with hunting season. Grass Roots North Carolina argues she turned 11,000 dove hunters into criminals.

"People like to explain all of this away as the gun lobby doing its work, but it's really peasants with pitchforks," says Valone. "We were the tea party before the tea party was cool."

But the article is wrong about one thing:
It isn’t ‘Paul Valone’ who has done all this …

It’s you!

What GRNC does is channel your input to legislators and committees on the principal that, to paraphrase the late Senator Everett Dirksen, “When they feel the heat, they see the light!”

And how does GRNC do that? Now you can find out at GRNC’s expanded and updated legislative tactics seminar for gun rights supporters …

‘Guerilla tactics for gun rights warriors’

GRNC’s annual legislative tactics seminar, taught by me, will teach you how to better defend your rights. Far beyond the typical “write-your-congressman” approach, the updated and expanded seminar will feature hardball tactics for making politicians and corporations accede to your demands. Learn why citizen groups often fail, and why the political process is not “broken.” As one sage put it: “The legislative process works just fine. It just doesn’t work the way you think it does.”

Following the seminar, GRNC will conduct its meeting of the board of directors, after which attendees are invited to join us for drinks and dinner.

Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012

Location: Rights Watch International office, 2016 Cameron St., Suite 217, Raleigh, NC 27605

Agenda: - Registration: 8:30 AM

- Legislative Tactics Seminar: 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM

- Board of Directors Meeting: 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM

- GRNC dinner get-together: 6:00 PM until?

Registration: - Cost of seminar is $50, which will be waived for active or future GRNC volunteers. For this option, contact GRNC president me (Paul Valone) at President@GRNc.org

Other gun rights supporters may reserve by going http://grnc.org/lts/join.html. When you reach the donation page, select $50 donation from the drop down menu on the upper right and fill in remaining contact information. To avoid revealing our tactics to anti-gun opponents, you may be asked for evidence of prior commitment to the gun rights movement.

Even if you can’t attend the seminar, I hope you will contribute to GRNC by going to: http://grnc.org/lts/join.html.

With your help, GRNC will win back our rights, one battle at a time.

Armatissimi e liberissimi,