Help Clemmons Help Itself!

Like other municipalities, the Clemmons Village Council is preparing to update its firearms ordinances to comply with recent changes to state law. Currently, Clemmons bans firearms from the Village Hall and property. However, as the ordinances are updated, there is hope for this to change. Clemmons is teetering on the edge of proper recognition of gun freedom, and you can help nudge them toward the side of reason. See the “Immediate Action Required” section, below, to learn how you can help.

On Monday January 27th the Council will vote one of two ways:

1. Anti-gun: In order to be in compliance with state law, they will vote to narrow the areas where guns are banned, but where state law gives them wiggle room, they will tediously outline specific areas where they can still force gun control onto the law-abiding voters.
   
   
2. Pro-freedom: The Council will vote to eliminate the gun ban entirely. Naturally, complete removal of the prohibition is the simplest, safest and most reasonable approach. This would appropriately recognize the human rights outlined in the Federal and North Carolina Constitutions, and provide village leadership an opportunity to demonstrate respect for the people they serve.

Fortunately, GRNC member Bill Lawry is on the Village Council, and for the following reasons, he favors eliminating the gun ban entirely.

• Eliminating the gun ban will make Clemmons safer. We all know that 'More Guns Mean Less Crime'. Clemmons has restricted weapons for many years. In the past, it probably seemed like a good idea, but the data has proved that prohibitions on firearms are dangerous. Thankfully there has never been a tragedy in Clemmons, but through Newtown and others, we’ve seen that 'Gun Free Zone' are really 'Protection Free Zone'. Only a good man with a gun can stop a bad man with a gun.
  
  
• Eliminating the gun ban will reduce confusion. By leaving firearms regulation to the state there will be less risk that an unsuspecting visitor to Clemmons will inadvertently run afoul of a useless ordinance; useless because a piece of paper never has, and never will, stop a bullet.  Allowing municipalities to further regulate firearms adds confusion, but doesn't keep anyone safer.
  

• The Second Amendment was established to keep free men and women free.  It is pure arrogance for a municipality to tamper with a human right that is Constitutionally recognized and protected.

Please help your fellow gun owners further the cause of gun freedom. GRNC’s victories have already set a nice pace, and we gain momentum every time gun owners somewhere in North Carolina win a victory. Please help Clemmons help itself. Liberation of your town may be next!

• E-mail the Clemmons Mayor and Village Council Members. Use the copy-and-paste e-mail list, and the suggested message, below.
  
  
• Phone the Clemmons Mayor and Village Council Members (phone numbers are listed below). Ask them to end the gun ban in Clemmons. Remind them that criminals and the mentally ill don’t pay attention to ordinances, and that enforcing gun bans against law-abiding citizens is just as dangerous as it is disrespectful.
  
  
• Attend the Clemmons Village Council Meeting on January 27th, at 7:00 PM. At the Council Meeting, interested citizens will have 3 minutes to make their point. You must sign in at the loose leaf book inside the door to the Council Room. Council is not obligated to respond to your comments but may do so if they wish. Visitors should allow time to find parking (best behind the building), sign in and take a seat. The meeting starts promptly at 7:00 PM. Location details for the meeting are below:

Meeting Location:
Clemmons Village Hall
3715 Clemmons Rd.
Clemmons, NC 27012

• Contribute to GRNC. As we march across the state liberating town after town, we need your continued support. Please click here to contribute to the cause of gun freedom in North Carolina.
  (Or: http://www.grnc.org/join-grnc/contribute).

CONTACT INFO

Copy-Paste E-mail List:
nnelson@clemmons.org; mcameron@clemmons.org; ndenny@clemmons.org; blawry@clemmons.org; droark@clemmons.org; mrogers@clemmons.org

Phone Numbers:

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "End the Gun Ban in Clemmons"

Dear Mayor Nelson and Clemmons Village Council Members,

I have just been informed that the Clemmons Village Council is in the process of updating the village’s firearms ordinances in order to be in compliance with new state law. Rather than tediously outlining a few areas around Clemmons in which to maintain a gun ban (where state law may still allow it), I encourage you to take this opportunity to lift the gun ban entirely.

Eliminating the gun ban will make Clemmons safer, reduce confusion, and demonstrate the Village Council’s respect for the law-abiding voters. The criminal element and the mentally ill do not honor gun control ordinances, and so it is only the peaceful, law-abiding citizens who suffer, often greatly, when gun control is forced upon them. Also, maintaining gun bans in a few areas, but not others, confuses the issue, and this can serve to entrap law-abiding gun owners into becoming inadvertent criminals. Eliminating the gun ban entirely is clearly the safest and most reasonable route.

As you update the village ordinances, I ask that you resist the temptation to continue to exert control over law-abiding gun owners just because it’s possible to do so. Vote to eliminate all gun bans in the Village of Clemmons.

I will continue to monitor this issue via alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

Although new state law mandates the liberation of local parks from overreaching gun control ordinances, it still leaves some room for local politicians to ban guns in certain, specific instances. Recently, the Ashe County Commissioners contemplated continuing the county’s parks gun ban to the greatest extent state law would still allow. However, thanks to the efforts of GRNC supporters and volunteers, the Ashe County Commission has chosen instead to free their county from these stifling and risky gun bans.

After a 3-2 vote defeating a new gun control ordinance, County Attorney John Kilby stated, “As it stands right now, we don’t have an ordinance as to concealed carry at all (in parks).” And after the meeting, Commissioner Judy Poe responded to questions about the rejected ordinance with, “No, this vote ends the ordinance issue.” So, it’s done. The Ahse County Commission did the right thing, albeit on a split vote, and we applaud the three commissioners who voted for safety and freedom (Poe, Price & Roark).

Make no mistake, GRNC supporters, your e-mails and your attendance at the meeting made the difference. According to the Ashe Mountain Times, Commissioner Poe said she had received “hundreds” of emails arguing against the proposed ordinance, and in the past she had not supported carrying concealed weapons at ball games but she had re-assessed her position.

Special thanks to volunteer Andy Stevens, who represented GRNC at the meeting, and Gene Maples, a courageous Ashe county resident who spearheaded the county’s citizen response to the proposed gun ban. Nice work, guys. And nice work, GRNC supporters. Keep it up!