ghoststan
Regular Member
imported post
By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun
gronberg@heraldsun.com
Dec 5, 2008
DURHAM -- City Council members appear likely to add to their 2009 legislative wish list a local minister's proposal that the state license purchases of ammunition.
The Rev. Melvin Whitley has been pushing his so-called "bullet ownership bill" for a couple years now, but so far no one has formally introduced it in the N.C. General Assembly.
A formal council endorsement could prod Durham's legislative delegation to put the measure in the hopper after the General Assembly convenes early next year.
Council members agreed Thursday to have their own legislative subcommittee review the measure and decide whether it should become part of the city's formal wish list.
"This is not gun control," Whitley told council members Thursday. "This is gun safety."
Whitley's proposal -- modeled on existing law in Illinois -- would require gun owners to secure a permit from the local sheriff's office before buying ammunition.
It would also forbid ammunition sales to felons, drug addicts, mental patients, juvenile delinquents, the mentally retarded and illegal aliens.
Amd it would forbid sales to people whose mental state presents "a clear and present danger to the community," to anyone a court order bars from possessing a handgun, to anyone convicted of a gun crime, or to anyone who has been convicted of domestic battery.
Whitley said Thursday the measure is intended to close loopholes in existing law that make it harder to purchase a firearm than to buy ammunition.
Given the potential for opposition from gun-rights lobbies, supporters intend to assemble a coalition of local and "statewide organizations" like the N.C. Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Parents of Murdered Children, the People's Alliance, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, the N.C. Sheriff's Association and the NAACP to support the measure, he said.
Ideally, the strategy is also for "a gun-toting legislator" to introduce the bill, he said.
Whitley is active in Partners Against Crime District 1 and is also a member of the Durham Crime Cabinet.
Councilwoman Cora Cole-McFadden and Councilman Howard Clement both signaled they'd like to see the bill added to the legislative wish list, which officials compile each year in preparation for the General Assembly's session.
The wish list or "agenda," to use the council's term for it, focuses heavily on Durham-only issues. But it usually includes a few items calling for bills that affect the entire state.
By Ray Gronberg : The Herald-Sun
gronberg@heraldsun.com
Dec 5, 2008
DURHAM -- City Council members appear likely to add to their 2009 legislative wish list a local minister's proposal that the state license purchases of ammunition.
The Rev. Melvin Whitley has been pushing his so-called "bullet ownership bill" for a couple years now, but so far no one has formally introduced it in the N.C. General Assembly.
A formal council endorsement could prod Durham's legislative delegation to put the measure in the hopper after the General Assembly convenes early next year.
Council members agreed Thursday to have their own legislative subcommittee review the measure and decide whether it should become part of the city's formal wish list.
"This is not gun control," Whitley told council members Thursday. "This is gun safety."
Whitley's proposal -- modeled on existing law in Illinois -- would require gun owners to secure a permit from the local sheriff's office before buying ammunition.
It would also forbid ammunition sales to felons, drug addicts, mental patients, juvenile delinquents, the mentally retarded and illegal aliens.
Amd it would forbid sales to people whose mental state presents "a clear and present danger to the community," to anyone a court order bars from possessing a handgun, to anyone convicted of a gun crime, or to anyone who has been convicted of domestic battery.
Whitley said Thursday the measure is intended to close loopholes in existing law that make it harder to purchase a firearm than to buy ammunition.
Given the potential for opposition from gun-rights lobbies, supporters intend to assemble a coalition of local and "statewide organizations" like the N.C. Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Parents of Murdered Children, the People's Alliance, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, the N.C. Sheriff's Association and the NAACP to support the measure, he said.
Ideally, the strategy is also for "a gun-toting legislator" to introduce the bill, he said.
Whitley is active in Partners Against Crime District 1 and is also a member of the Durham Crime Cabinet.
Councilwoman Cora Cole-McFadden and Councilman Howard Clement both signaled they'd like to see the bill added to the legislative wish list, which officials compile each year in preparation for the General Assembly's session.
The wish list or "agenda," to use the council's term for it, focuses heavily on Durham-only issues. But it usually includes a few items calling for bills that affect the entire state.
