GRNC Alert 4-5-13: Mecklenburg Co. Parks Carry Restrictions – UPDATE

Commissioners deadlock on compromise proposal

Thanks to your emails to the Mecklenburg County Commissioners and continued discussions between GRNC leadership and certain commissioners, the commissioners discussed and debated the proposed parks ordinance concealed carry restrictions for just over an hour Tuesday night. The commissioners ended up in a draw (4-4 with one commissioner absent — Ridenhour (R), James (R), Bentley (R), and Cotham (D) voting correctly) Tuesday night on a compromise motion after failing to get a second on a motion to eliminate altogether the optional parks ordinance concealed carry restrictions in “recreational facilities”. Your emails in the past couple of weeks and the speakers at the meeting all sparked the attention of the commissioners and triggered the lengthy debate. Your efforts made a positive difference and were mentioned several times by the commissioners!

After the deadlock, the commissioners directed the county attorney, in consultation with the parks director, to bring to one of the next meetings the original proposed revised parks ordinance with restrictions, and at least one other draft with limited restrictions as proposed by Commissioner Matthew Ridenhour (R-District 5), who has championed the elimination or reduction of the concealed carry restrictions.

In response to the Tuesday meeting, and in preparation for the next discussion, you need to take action again to let the commissioners know you are following their activities, and to let them know your position. Mecklenburg County residents should be sure to follow-up as described below, and emails by all supporters across NC would be greatly appreciated and add to the effect! We have their attention — we must keep the pressure on!!

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

•    Email the Mecklenburg County Commissioners as outlined below. Keep up the pressure, thank those voting to limit the restrictions, and send a message to those voting against.

•    Pencil in and plan to attend the April 16 and/or May 7, 2013 (more likely date) county commission meetings if you live in or near Mecklenburg County. One of these meetings will include the next discussion about the parks ordinance. GRNC will issue an alert confirming the date as soon as we learn the commission’s plans. The meetings will be held at 6pm at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center in the Meeting Chamber on the main floor, 600 East Fourth Street. Parking is available in the deck on Fourth Street across from the Government Center (and other nearby lots/decks). Parking across from the Government Center should be free (the gate will be up) by the time you leave the commission meeting.

•    Plan to register to speak when the parks ordinance comes up on the agenda. See this link to register to speak: http://charmeck.org/MECKLENBURG/COUNTY/BOCC/MEETINGS/Pages/default.aspx

•    Watch the recording of the April 2 meeting at the following link. You will be both pleased and disappointed by several of the comments made during the meeting. The important section of the meeting starts at 1:59:25 of the recording and ends at 3:00:20. http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOCC/Meetings/Pages/View.aspx

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE  

Suggested Subject: Follow-up regarding proposed parks ordinance concealed carry restrictions — NOT a computer generated letter

Dear County Commissioners:

Thank you to those of you that voted Tuesday in favor of Commissioner Ridenhour’s compromise proposal regarding the proffered parks ordinance changes related to the concealed carry of handguns by law-abiding concealed handgun permit (CHP) holders in county parks. While ideally I would like you to vote against any park-related concealed carry restrictions allowed, but not required, under state law, the compromise proposal is better than the full on restrictions.

To those that voted against the compromise position, please take time before the next meeting to learn more about the matter and reconsider your vote. While several points were raised in opposition to or regarding concerns about deleting the restrictions, the concerns are not warranted and the anecdotal points are not legitimate reasons for dissent. I believe if you learn more about this matter and receive legitimate answers to the questions you posed during the meeting, you will agree the concealed carry restrictions in “recreational facilities” in parks are not warranted and indeed are dangerous for law-abiding citizens.

Lastly, if you receive this email from a number of constituents, please do not interpret our feedback as a form letter or “computer generated letter” as one commissioner implied this may be. Rather, please know the opposition to the “recreational facilities” concealed carry restrictions is a coordinated effort by Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC.org) supporters in Mecklenburg County and across North Carolina who number in the 100s of thousands. We often use the same letter to contact legislators to demonstrate our united front. Please do not discount my email because it is in the same form as those sent by my fellow GRNC, second amendment and pro-choice-on-self-defense supporters.

I will continue monitoring this matter via Grass Roots North Carolina alerts.

Sincerely,

CONTACT INFORMATION

Mecklenburg County Commissioners:

Pat Cotham, Chairman – Pat.Cotham@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Kim M. Ratliff – Kim.Ratliff@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Trevor Fuller – Trevor.Fuller@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Karen Bentley – Karen.Bentley@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Vilma Leake – Vilma.Leake@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

George Dunlap – George.Dunlap@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Dumont Clark – dumontclarke@mvalaw.com

Matthew Ridenhour – Matthew.Ridenhour@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Bill James – wjames@carolina.rr.com

Mecklenburg Cut and Paste Email List: Pat.Cotham@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, Kim.Ratliff@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, Trevor.Fuller@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, Karen.Bentley@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, Vilma.Leake@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, George.Dunlap@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, dumontclarke@mvalaw.com, Matthew.Ridenhour@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov, wjames@carolina.rr.com

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