David Codrea

* Gun Rights Examiner

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North Carolina declared 'gun free zone' in anticipation of Hurricane Earl

* September 2nd, 2010 10:41 am ET


Hurricane Earl (L) moves through the Atlantic Ocean with the with Tropical Storm Fiona forming behind.
Photo: Photo by NOAA via Getty Images
"State of emergency declared in North Carolina," the WECT News 6 headline informs us. "Governor Bev Perdue has declared a State of Emergency for North Carolina in anticipation of Hurricane Earl's arrival."
From blogger John Jacob H:
"Upon Governor Beverly Perdue’s declaration of a State Of Emergency on September 1, 2010 Dove Hunters, Concealed Carry Handgun Licensees, Target Shooters and all other gunowners cannot possess, transport or use firearms off their personal property as per N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-288.7"
Here's what the statute says:
"§ 14?288.7. Transporting dangerous weapon or substance during emergency; possessing off premises; exceptions.
"(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for any person to transport or possess off his own premises any dangerous weapon or substance in any area:
"(1) In which a declared state of emergency exists; or

"(2) Within the immediate vicinity of which a riot is occurring.
"(b) This section does not apply to persons exempted from the provisions of G.S. 14?269 with respect to any activities lawfully engaged in while carrying out their duties.
"(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1969, c. 869, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 192; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)"
Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner Paul Valone alerted us to the dangers of this statute back in June, when he informed us:
"Grass Roots North Carolina* has joined Michael Bateman, Virgil Green, Forrest Minges, Jr., and the Second Amendment Foundation in a lawsuit against the state’s emergency powers gun ban...Plaintiffs are represented by attorney Alan Gura, who won the recent McDonald v. Chicago Second Amendment case and the landmark D.C. v. Heller case preceding it."
And in February, Dave Workman told us of the North Carolina emergency powers gun ban being invoked during a snow storm.
You can view the complaint Valone reported on here.
But time's up for North Carolina gun owners. They can either obey the law, and go defenseless if they have to leave their homes, or just say the hell with stupid, evil anti-defense edicts and take their chances they won't be caught and punished--providing they survive their encounter with the "authorities".
Government, of course, as usual, has things exactly Bizarro-World backwards. It's when the security of a free state is imperiled that the right of the people to keep and bear arms is most necessary.
What an outrageous choice to force a supposedly free human being to make. Especially when we've seen what can happen when unarmed people are caught trying to get to safety by the "only ones" who can "legally" bear arms in an emergency.
As I asked when commenting on that atrocity:
"If you were trying to get to safety with your loved ones and had to make your way through a no man's land populated by looting predators and worse, would you go defenseless?"
Well, would you? Even if you lived in North Carolina?
UPDATE: GRNC Alert: "His name is Earl and your rights are nil"
UPDATE 2: Paul Valone offers some new observations.