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Gun Rights Supporters:
This past week, I had the honor of meeting or reconnecting with many of the scholars and trial lawyers who made possible the DC v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court decisions, affirming the individual right to arms.
Evidence of progress...
The event was the Campbell University Second Amendment Symposium on the tenth anniversary of the historic Supreme Court DC v. Heller decision and, as the state’s main gun rights organization, Grass Roots North Carolina was an event sponsor. Panel participants included Alan Gura, who won both Heller and McDonald decisions, David Kopel of the Independence Institute, whose amicus briefs were cited in both, and historian Joyce Lee Malcolm whose book, “To Keep and Bear Arms: Origins of an Anglo-American Right” should be required reading for any Second Amendment advocate (and which, in fact, was both cited and praised by Justice Antonin Scalia). But the falsehoods still lurk in the corners... But the jackal pack was there as well: Dennis Henigan, former counsel for Handgun Control, Inc., Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Mark Frassetto of Everytown for Gun Safety, and Hannah Shearer of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. And as always, those who would steal your rights continue to lie. To paraphrase Senator H.L. Richardson, author or “Confrontational Politics,” ferrets ferret, vultures vomit, and liberals lie. It’s just what they do. Lowy regurgitated long-discredited nonsense from NY Times reporter Michael Luo, who claimed 2400 NC concealed handgun permit-holders are criminals; Henigan insisted that the history cited by Scalia in the Heller decision was “wrong”; and they all reveled in a litany of phony “research” by ends-driven academics like John Donohue. The day’s biggest lie came from Henigan, formerly of Handgun Control, who counted on you having a short memory by claiming HCI had always supported the right to arms as an individual right of “the people.” In truth, until SCOTUS rendered the Heller decision, HCI argued that the Second Amendment was a “collective right” of states to form “militias” like the National Guard.  Just one election between you and the loss of Heller...
The most sobering presentation came from Alan Gura, however, as he reminded us that prior to the 2016 election, the question under debate was not whether Hillary Clinton would appoint a supreme court justice to overturn Heller, but how quickly. He went on to describe how quickly and easily the Heller decision could be overturned, with draconian gun control not far behind. And all pro-Second Amendment scholars at the symposium lamented how hostile judges have worked to undermine Heller by treating your right to bear arms as a “second class right.” Indeed, of nearly 1,100 gun rights cases raised since Heller, only a handful have succeeded. (Of which, I am happy to say, one success was GRNC’s own lawsuit striking down our state of emergency gun ban, Bateman v. Perdue.) Anti-gun Democrats are poised to take control of both Congress and the North Carolina legislature. And make no mistake, if Democrats gain control of the NC legislature with Roy Cooper as Governor, nothing stands in their way to roll back all of the gains we have made over the past two decades. Worse, gun owners have gone back to sleep...
As I predicted, the “Trump Slump” has severely reduced GRNC contributions. With Trump in office, gun rights supporters apparently feel the threat has receded, and are not joining and contributing to gun rights organizations. Short of critically-needed funds, we may be unable to run a full “Remember in November” voter project, by which we have distributed as many as 150,000 voter guides covering all candidates across the state.
Worse, we lack funds for our federally registered political action committee, the GRNC Political Victory Fund. As you recall, we are restricted by law from using membership money to impact elections, requiring us to raise money separately for GRNC-PVF. Please help GRNC-PVF defend your rights! Primary elections will begin in a few weeks. Please help the GRNC Political Victory Fund elect pro-gun legislators who will keep and further the gains we have made since 1995. Your membership funds are not enough. Please contribute to GRNC-PVF by going to: www.grnc.org/grnc-pvf/donate-to-grnc-pvf I hate “groveling for greenbacks” as much as you probably hate getting requests for money. But without your donations, we are defenseless. If you have recently contributed, we thank you. If not, please go to www.grnc.org/grnc-pvf/donate-to-grnc-pvf As always, GRNC and GRNC-PVF remain all-volunteer entities dedicated to putting your money to more efficient, effective use in defending your rights than any other group. Armatissimi e liberissimi,  F. Paul Valone President, Grass Roots North Carolina Executive Director, Rights Watch International Radio host, Guns, Politics and Freedom P.S. Having recently spent several months out of work on a physical disability myself, I understand that money can be tight. It would be of great help if you could contribute $100, $50, $25 or even $10 to GRNC-PVF. |
