GRNC Alert 12-03-11: Hickory - More Abuse to Parks Carry

Grass Roots North Carolina, P.O. Box 10665, Raleigh, NC 27605, 919-664-8565, www.GRNC.org

GRNC Alert 12-03-11:
Hickory - More Abuse to Parks Carry

There is yet another entrant into the race to deprive you of your right to self protection. Now entering the contest we have Hickory. The power hungry in concert with the naive and deluded are trying to find a way around obeying the new law allowing concealed carry permit holders the luxury of self protection within the confines of local parks.

Now the Hickory City Council will consider this issue in their next meeting this Tuesday night, Dec. 6 at 7:00 pm. Two options are being offered to the city council. One would be to simply comply with the full spirit of the law and recognize concealed carry in all areas of the city parks. The other which is of course being pushed by the city bureaucrats is to restrict concealed carry everywhere they possibly can under the new law. Let them know that the bare minimum is not good enough.

Recently news reports are filled with breathless quotes from the hysterical such as: "...there is always the possibility that a person would lose their cool and pop out a gun and start shooting." and "...tempers flare over something that's small and somebody gets overly excited and all of a sudden the next thing you know weapons are there."

Sound familiar? These are the same things that were said 16 years ago when concealed carry was first passed. Supposedly every fender bender was going to result in a gun fight. Every minor argument would escalate and end in bloodshed and heartbreak. A funny thing happened on the way to disaster... nothing. Despite all this wild eyed speculation, the only outcome from the concealed carry law was a reduction in violent crime; with the possible exception of those places designated as "gun free zones."

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

* ATTEND the meeting on Tuesday night, 7:00 pm. Pack the room at: Council Chambers - City Hall; 76 North Center Street; Hickory, NC 28601

Contact the following people:
* Mayor Rudy Wright - signs1320@charter.net
* City Manager Mick Berry - mberry@hickorync.gov
* Commissioner Brad Lail - blail@hickorync.gov
* Commissioner Bruce Meisner - bmeisner@hickorync.gov
* Commissioner Danny Seaver - dseaver@hickorync.gov
* Commissioner Hank Guess - hguess@ci.hickory.nc.us
* Commissioner Sally Fox - sfox@hickorync.gov
* Commissioner Jill Patton - jpatton@hickorync.gov

Or paste this list into the "To" field in your email program:

signs1320@charter.net; mberry@hickorync.gov; blail@hickorync.gov; bmeisner@hickorync.gov; dseaver@hickorync.gov; hguess@ci.hickory.nc.us; sfox@hickorync.gov; jpatton@hickorync.gov

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Dear Commissioners:

I urge you to respect the new law allowing law abiding citizens the right to self protection within parks. Concealed carry holders have repeatedly proven to be sane, sober and law abiding over the last 16 years that North Carolina's CCW ordinance has been in force. Any concerns you have in regards to concealed carry in parks are totally unfounded. Not only have the "wild west" scenarios laid out by those unwisely opposing the concealed carry law not materialized, but in fact everywhere this has been tried, crime has gone down. It is time to allow the right of self protection in parks as well.

Any move to limit my rights will factor into any spending decisions I may make in regards to your town. There will also be a toll to pay at the polls in the subsequent elections.

Respect my right to self protection in what are often dangerous locations. I will be monitoring your actions via Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully,

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In case anyone is interested, the vote was 6-4 for option 1. They basically banned handguns everywhere the law would let them. Can't say I did not see this coming as soon as they changed the wording in HB 650 though.


Ordinance Amending Hickory City Code Chapter 21, Section 21-13, “Use of Weapons” Regarding Firearms in City Parks (Exhibit XIII.A.1.)
A new state law passed in the last General Assembly Session will require the City of Hickory to amend its ordinance which bans firearms in city parks. Session Law 2011-268, which became effective December 1, 2011, amends Article 14, Chapter 14 of the General Statutes which pertains to various laws regarding the right to own, possess, or carry a firearm in North Carolina. Staff presented two concealed handgun permit ordinance options to the Parks and Recreation Commission at their November 8, 2011 meeting. The first ordinance, which Staff recommended to be endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Commission, prohibits concealed handguns in certain specified park areas. The second ordinance simply complies with state law and allows concealed handguns in all park areas. Six (6) Commission Members voted to endorse and recommend to City Council the first ordinance option. Four (4) Commission Members voted to endorse and recommend to City Council, the second ordinance option. Staff recommends approval of the local ordinance which prohibits concealed handguns in certain park areas.

I have an idea for a third option...

They can collectively take their ordinance(s) & shove it.

OK, hold up. I'm going to leave the above post, but it may not be correct. They had it listed as agenda AND minutes. My assumption was that it showed tonights vote. The Hickory Daily Record is reporting a 6-1 vote IN FAVOR of unrestricted carry. Seems we were represented with some serious force at the meeting. I'll post a link, but be warned the site is obnoxious to deal with. Looks like I might have jumped the gun.

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/...-concealed-handguns-hickory-parks-ar-1685780/

I am SHOCKED. Relieved. Grateful.
Holy **** I'm glad I have a CHP.

Picked up the paper today so I could read the rest of the article. I never expected it to be 6-1 in our favor though. Nice. One of the commissioners actually opposed the unrestricted proposal but voted for it because it had so much public support. That's nice to see in a politician. Actual representation. Hank Guess, former HPD officer, backed up the statistics that were presented at the meeting in favor of CC in parks.

If only Kernersville would follow the lead of this board and undo their new ordinance which restricts quite a bit of the parks.