Gun Rights Supporters:
Believe it or not, on Tuesday Senator Natasha Marcus made my day. You see, in 2021 we “outed” Marcus’ (D-Mecklenburg, 0-star) lies about pistol purchase permits – directed at her own colleagues on the Senate floor – to those same colleagues and to leadership, calling for her to be censured.
I guess that made an impression. Outside the Senate Judiciary hearing on Tuesday where she railed against Senate Bill 41 for pistol purchase permit repeal and church carry (which passed, incidentally), she greeted me with that ever-articulate “F—K YOU!”
I smiled and said, “Very clever, Senator. Thank you. I’m going to quote you on that.”
And here we are.
Learn from her, folks: Like other leftists, Marcus hates GRNC. Marcus hates you. Marcus hates ALL mainstream Americans who support the right to arms.
I, for one, stand ready to give her a lot more pro-gun legislation to hate!
Victories
We didn’t just win last week, GRNC kicked tail, with three out of four pro-gun bills passed in one chamber and headed for the other (and the fourth is likely to get a hearing next week).
In the NC House, Representative Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell, GRNC ****) sponsored House Bill 49 for church carry, which passed the full chamber – drawing six Democrats for a veto-proof 77 to 43 vote – and now heads to the Senate to repeat the process. HB 50 for purchase permit repeal, sponsored by Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Nash, ****), cleared the NC House Judiciary 3 and Rules committees and will likely hit the floor this week.
In the NC Senate Judiciary Committee, church carry and purchase permit repeal were rolled into a single bill, SB 41, sponsored by Senators Danny Britt (R- Hoke, Robeson, Scotland, ****), Warren Daniel (R- Buncombe, Burke, McDowell, ****), and Jim Perry (R- Beaufort, Craven, Lenoir, ****). The bill then breezed through the Senate Rules Committee and headed for the floor.
In the floor fight over SB 41, Democrats tried to hang no less than four gun control amendments onto the bill. First was Marcus’ attempt to require Jim Crow purchase permits for all gun sales. Then came a “universal background check” amendment by Democrat Julie Mayfield (0-star) who represents “our own little Portland, OR,” aka Asheville and Buncombe County, mandatory gun storage (also Mayfield), and finally “red flag” gun confiscation by Jay Chaudhuri (D-Wake, 0-star).
But Sens. Britt, Daniel and Ralph Hise (R-Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga, Yancey, ****) were ready with motions to table, burying each anti-gun amendment in a 29-19 party-line vote.
As always, each failure to pass gun control was met by much wailing and gnashing from Democrats, including Marcus literally shedding (crocodile) tears. Ultimately, SB 41 passed the Senate in with a veto-proof 29-19 vote and now heads to the House.
What’s next?
A number of members have expressed concerns that anti-gun Governor Roy Cooper will veto anything we pass. Yes, he will. That’s why GRNC and its political action committee, the GRNC Political Victory Fund invested heavily in electing a veto-proof (six tenths) supermajority in both chambers. And I’m happy to say we were largely successful, winning 30 of 50 seats in the Senate and 71 of 120 in the House.
The other input we’ve been getting is for constitutional carry, for which we expect a bill to be filed in upcoming days.
What you can do
First, I’d like to thank GRNC’s all-volunteer Legislative Action Team, which prowls the halls of the General Assembly to distribute talking points, line up votes, and generally guide the Machiavellian workings of the legislature. Next, I thank GRNC’s alert crew for getting out time-critical action alerts.
Finally, I’d like to thank YOU for responding to those alerts by contacting legislators and, when called upon, for attending committee hearings. You might not realize how important it is that we pack committee hearings for gun bills, but rest assured that Michael Bloomberg and his “astroturf” organization “Mom’s Demand Action” have realized it, which is why gun control organizations have been known to bus in and even (reportedly) pay gun control demonstrators to show up in their cute red T-shirts. On Tuesday, they imported a Florida teen, who ranted at the House Judiciary Committee about the trauma of being 10 miles from the Parkland rampage.
I also need you to support GRNC. Even though, as an all-volunteer organization, GRNC puts your money to more efficient, effective use in defending your rights than any other group, all of this costs money. So, folks, even if you have previously contributed (for which I thank you), please consider an additional donation to GRNC by going to: grnc.org/join-grnc/contribute
With your support, GRNC will continue its 29-year record of success.
Armatissimi e liberissimi,
F. Paul Valone
President, Grass Roots North Carolina
Executive Director, Rights Watch International
Host, Guns, Politics and Freedom
Author, Rules for ANTI-Radicals: A Practical Handbook for Defeating Leftism
P.S. To those who have already contributed, I thank you. For those who have not, please help GRNC defend your rights! A contribution of $250, $100, $50, or even $25 will help us continue our long history of success!