Important notices:
- HB 562 postponed: Do not attend House Appropriations Committee tomorrow!
- Help GRNC fight billionaire Bloomberg’s machine!
Gun Rights Supporters: First, let me note that if you planned to attend the Appropriations Committee meeting tomorrow for HB 562 (“Second Amendment Affirmation Act”), the bill has been removed from the Appropriations calendar tomorrow for further work. It will likely reappear, in improved form, next week. Please keep contacting legislators. Second, let me alert you to the fact that billionaire Michael Bloomberg, via “Everytown for Gun Safety” and its shills, “Moms Demand Action” and “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” have HB 562 squarely in their sights and intend to defeat it. At the risk of my sanity, I today endured the Bloomberg “Moms’” press conference, at which Reps. Rick Glazier and Verla Insko, as well as MDA representatives, told lies about HB 562, including misleading claims that background checks would not be performed, that stalkers would be able to buy guns, and that health care providers would not be able to advise patients on safety regarding guns in the home. None of these claims are true! What we need from you ASAP North Carolina Republicans say they hear you loud and clear, and ask that we turn off the thousands of emails they’ve been getting (as opposed to perhaps a few dozen from the “Moms” who make the ludicrous claim to representing 101,000 NC Members). Accordingly, we will lay off the Appropriations Committee…for now. Deliver this message Dear Representative ___: Bloomberg’s highly-funded “Mom’s Demand Action” (MDA) yesterday held a press conference to lie about House Bill 562 (“Second Amendment Affirmation Act”). They claim the bill will stop background checks for handgun purchases, but the opposite is true: Our archaic Jim Crow-era law – designed to deny guns to minorities – allows people to get purchase permits up to 5 years prior to the actual handgun purchase. Under HB 560, computerized background checks would be done at the time of sale. The Bloomberg “Moms” claim people with low level misdemeanors will gain the ability to buy guns. In truth, those people can already do so. The section in question deals only with concealed handgun permits, not gun purchases, and eliminates only older, minor transgressions. But perhaps their biggest lie is that HB 562 will somehow damage doctor-patient relationships by preventing doctors from counseling parents on storing guns safely. In truth, doctors will be able to advise patients on anything they wish. The only thing which would be restricted would be using written questionnaires to document gun ownership, effectively registering gun owners. I strongly urge you to pass HB 562 from the House in a version at least as strong, if not stronger, than its present version. I will be monitoring your actions through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts. Respectfully, Act now to stop Bloomberg! Understand that Michael Bloomberg has now won deceptively named “universal background check” battles in the states of Washington and Oregon, and he is using the same tactics here in North Carolina. I need you to help GRNC repulse the threat by donating at: http://www.grnc.org/join-grnc/contribute. If that sounds brash, I apologize, but our backs are against the wall. Armatissimi e liberissimi, F. Paul Valone President, Grass Roots North Carolina Executive Director, Rights Watch International P.S. I realize that big-buck contributions are not within the reach of even some of our strongest supporters. $50, $25 or even $10 will help us repel the Bloomberg threat.
