gun control

The General Assembly has voted to make it possible for people to carry guns anywhere and everywhere ... except in the General Assembly.

Screw that.

Chris and Candace are two Raleigh bartenders in their 20s who rarely have time for politics - until now that is. Once I told them their safety may be jeopardized in a big way, they suddenly started paying attention.

The news that startled them to such a degree? A handful of Republican lawmakers here in North Carolina want to let people carry handguns into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

"After axing the assault weapons ban from the Senate’s comprehensive gun violence prevention plan, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is struggling to scrape together enough votes to pass the centerpiece of the plan: universal background checks. Republicans are refusing to vote for it, and even several Democrats in red states are wavering on their support.

According to Greg Sargent at the Washington Post, these key votes include Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)...

From Think Progress, read more here:
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/03/26/1771461/why-are-these-six-d...

Contact Sen. Hagan here: http://www.hagan.senate.gov/contact/

When love (of your gun) makes you do crazy things:

Rosen, a 69-year-old retired psychologist who lives near Sandy Hook Elementary School where the shootings took place, says his inbox is filled with emails like this one: How are all those little students doing? You know, the ones that showed up at your house after the ‘shooting’. What is the going rate for getting involved in a gov’t sponsored hoax anyway?

A show of hands for how many of you think someone crazy enough to believe stuff like this should be allowed to bring his gun to a park where your kids are playing? Anyone? Bueller?

OK, here’s the scenario… You are driving by the local school and you notice a young man pull an assault weapon and a handgun from the trunk of his car and move quickly towards the school. A woman and child are coming out of the front door and he shoots them both. You just happen to have your assault weapon in the car. You pull up, jump out and head toward the entrance. As you enter the school, you see the gunman calmly walking down the hallway shooting children. You raise your weapon and order the gunman to stop. He turns, raises his weapon towards you and you shoot him down.

You’ve saved countless lives. Your face is on the cover of People, Newsweek and Guns and Ammo Magazines. You are interviewed on FOX, MSNBC and The View. President Obama has a state dinner in your honor. Sounds great!

Mr. Valone of Grass Roots North Carolina responded to my message. The message is based on excuses and a false alleged equivalency between his actions and those of the reporter whose family Mr. Valone has placed at increased risk. Below is the chain of correspondence.

Threatening someone's family is behavior worthy of the lower forms of mob bosses, drug lords, and fanatical terrorists. Is the president of Grass Roots North Carolina seeking to place himself in such company?

The state of North Carolina is considering legislation that will lift the ban on concealed, loaded guns in bars, restaurants, and public parks. Sign a postcard here to tell the NC Legislature that Guns and Alcohol Don't Mix!

Bi-partisan, or bi-polar?

AN ACT to repeal the state law that requires a person to obtain a license or permit to purchase, sell, give away, receive, or otherwise transfer a pistol or crossbow.

I keep looking at my calendar to make sure it's not April 1st. It's not. It's strange enough that a cop would be a primary sponsor of this bill, but when I saw a recent candidate for NCDP Chair had co-sponsored this craziness, my brain just sort of slipped into neutral and revved for a few moments.

From the Des Moines Register:

A snafu during a legislative debate where a microphone was turned on captured banter between two Iowa GOP leaders, who also joked about a “give-a-handgun-to-a-schizophrenic bill.”

Republicans this week revived a proposal that would allow Iowans to carry weapons in public without permission from a sheriff, without background checks and without training requirements.

The legislation, House Study bill 219, is known as “Alaska carry,” which is law in Alaska, Arizona, Vermont and Wyoming. Rep. Erik Helland, R-Johnston, is listed as one of the three legislators on a subcommittee assigned the bill.

Behold.

Transcript after the jump.