Action Alert: May 31, 2017 — GA May Act on Guns

As was feared, some members of the General Assembly may be bringing back legislation that would roll back existing gun safety laws. A version of the previously introduced H.B. 746 is scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary IV committee on Wednesday. A new version of the bill would likely eliminate North Carolina’s pistol permitting system, among other things.

Calls to members of the NC House are urgently needed.

This from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence:

NCGV has learned that a bill being considered in committee tomorrow would eliminate the pistol purchase permitting system.

Yes. You heard me.  The lifesaving background check system on private sales is on the chopping block yet again.  Background checks on private gun sales have been proven to save lives.  In Connecticut when a similar law was enacted they saw the gun homicide rate go down by 40%.  When a similar law was repealed in Missouri, they saw their gun homicide rate go up by 25%.

We don’t want to be another Missouri.

We beat this in 2015 when you called, emailed, and showed up at the General Assembly. We can do it again.

Please take 5 minutes and call these two key representatives

–       Rep. Brawley, Chairman of the House Finance Committee – 919-733-5800

–       Rep. Blackwell, Chairman of the House Judiciary IV Committee – 919-733-5805

Sample message to use: “I am calling in reference to HB 746.  I am very concerned that the pistol purchase permitting system might be eliminated.  This system is our background check on private handgun sales and has been proven to save lives.  Please vote no on anything that would eliminate this system.”

And this from MomsRising NC:

What’s in the bill? We’re not exactly sure. Like far too many recent NC laws passed with no transparency, the final version may not be available until the moment it’s taken up. But the word we’re hearing is that it could make devastating, reckless changes to existing protections, such as the elimination of NC’s successful pistol purchase permit system that provides important background checks and would allow for permitless carry in North Carolina. Permitless carry would allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns with no license, no background check, and no safety training!

***What we do know is that both of these proposals would make our state drastically less safe. We’ve stopped bad gun bills before and we can stop them again, but only with your help.

Send NC lawmakers a note urging them to protect NC gun laws and our communities and vote NO on HB 746. They need to hear from you RIGHT NOW!

Would you want to allow anyone who hasn’t been properly screened or trained to just pick up a firearm and carry it around North Carolina’s streets and neighborhoods, no questions asked?

NO, right?!

Unfortunately, the gun lobby has been working hard to achieve just that. The current version of the bill that is publicly available would allow any person who is a citizen of the United States and at least 18 years old to carry hidden, loaded handguns with no license, no background check, and no safety training.

This is a dramatic and dangerous rollback from our current law which requires anyone wishing to carry concealed to complete an application process, background check, and gun safety training. In order to receive a concealed carry permit, NC law currently requires at least eight hours of training, including a gun-range test, plus a background check. [3] These requirements ensure that people carrying hidden handguns in our communities are trained in handgun safety and operation and understand NC laws on the use of deadly force.

Even most gun owners are opposed to permitless carry. A very recent poll found that nearly 9 out 10 gun owners nationally — that’s 88% — support mandatory permits for people who want to carry concealed weapons.

The other piece we hear may show up unannounced tomorrow would be language that would eliminate NC’s successful pistol permit process, which provides the background checks on all handguns sold through unlicensed dealers in NC. When Missouri eliminated a similar pistol permit law, the gun-homicide rate jumped 25% in that state.

Lawmakers tried to eliminate our pistol permit process back in 2015, but because people called, emailed and showed up at the General Assembly, we were able to get the worst parts of the bill removed. We can do it again with your help!

Because the bill has the potential to move so fast, it’s important all members of the NC House hear from their constituents now–whether they are on the Judiciary Committee or not. Send a message to your NC representative right now and urge them to vote NO on HB 746 whenever it comes before them!

Permitless carry and eliminating the NC pistol permitting process would make our communities less safe. And slipping these changes in at the last minute just in order to please the gun lobby is just plain bad public policy.