Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Unconstitutional Laws

Sheriffs across the country answer to people who elected them and aim to protect rights despite new laws.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/16/us/sheriffs-refuse-to-enforce-laws-on-gun-control.html?pagewanted=all&goback=%2Egde_2759183_member_5818514629537579012&_r=0

North Carolina Eases laws on Concealed Carry

Changes in state gun laws are happening but which way are they taking us?  Maryland recently enacted changes further restricting gun use, while North Carolina aims to expand limits of legal concealed carry for responsible permit holders.  North Carolina law also cites more severe penalties for illegal use of a firearm. An article from Pilotonline.com, news from Hampton Roads, published 30 Sept 2013 stated:

“North Carolina concealed weapon permit holders will have more leeway to bring their handguns into bars and restaurants and onto school and university property starting Tuesday as all or portions of more than 50 laws approved earlier this year are carried out…

As far as the gun amendments, people with concealed handgun permits will be able to arm themselves in a restaurant where alcohol is served, provided they don’t drink or enter an establishment that has a sign to prohibit weapons.

Permit holders also will be allowed to store their handguns in a closed compartment in a locked car at parking lots owned or leased by state government or at lots in any school from kindergarten through college.

Gun rights advocates within the General Assembly and outside say Tuesday’s changes, which also include longer punishments for people who use or display guns while committing felonies, will deter violent crime, not augment it as critics contend.

“We expect to see exactly what’s happened in other states — nothing, absolutely nothing,” said Paul Valone, leader of Grass Rights North Carolina, which sought the eased concealed weapon restrictions. “Concealed-carry weapon holders have always been responsible.”

Private colleges and boarding schools can more narrowly limit who can have guns and where, but public schools and UNC system schools can’t. Police chiefs on the system’s 17 campuses, who unsuccessfully sought to remove universities from the list of new places where weapons can be stored in the final bill, are worried about the new law.

Although permit holders must be at least 21 years old, the law creates more potential for accidental shootings and suicide attempts, UNC-Chapel Hill Police Chief Jeff McCracken said Monday. It also may encourage violence against others, he said.

“People who are ordinarily law-abiding folks who are doing what the new law says may take action to address a dangerous situation on campus and thereby putting themselves and others in jeopardy,” he said.

Valone said his organization is assembling an online list of what it calls “high-risk” restaurants posting signs and refusing to allow permit holders to enter with their concealed weapon. Grass Roots NC will encourage its members to boycott those establishments.”

By Gary D. Robertson
The Associated Press
© September 30, 2013

Taken from http://hamptonroads.com/2013/09/new-nc-law-lets-some-gun-owners-carry-restaurants