Free Republic

One of the strange things about North Carolina (and there are many) is that Durham County has a firearm registry. It’s banned everywhere else in the state, but the legislature authorized Durham to register firearms. I don’t know if anyone actually registers, but legally  you’re supposed to. Kind of like legally you’re suppose to come to a complete stop at the stop sign, but frequently you don’t. Now a Democrat NC Senator has manged to pass a bill through the House that repeals that registry, ending the only firearm registry in North Carolina. A bill put forward by Sen. Mike Woodard,...

A fourth-grade student in Henderson County (corrected since original post) received the following worksheet, which qualifies as an “informational text” under the Common Core State Standards:

By an overwhelming two-to-one vote of 76-38, the North Carolina state House passed a bill allowing permitted concealed handguns on college campuses.  As with other states, private universities will be allowed to post signs that ban permitted concealed handguns.  Disappointingly, it would also not allow concealed handguns in classes, which means it would ban guns to and from student's cars.  With 44 Democrats in the state House, not even all the Democrats voted against the bill.  From WRAL television: State House lawmakers voted late Monday night to allow concealed weapons on college campuses, state property, greenways, bike trails, at sporting...

RALEIGH — The historians, doctors, preachers, lawyers, raging grannies, students and others gathered around the second-floor fountain inside the Legislative Building and belted out “This Little Light of Mine” and other songs. They were diverse in age and backgrounds but united in voice as part of a protest movement gaining numbers in recent weeks. In the four months since North Carolina Republicans took control of both General Assembly chambers and the governor’s mansion, the lawmakers have proposed rapid and sweeping change to the state’s electoral processes, health care policies, welfare management and publicly-funded education systems. The Republicans, some who emerged...

To date, 80 North Carolina residents have squeezed their savings for the bragging right of owning the Tesla Model S electric car, some paying more than $100,000 for their g-force ride, but they may be among the last. A legislative proposal, backed by the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, would make it illegal for Tesla, or any other car maker, to bypass dealerships and sell directly in the state. The proposal cuts at the heart of Tesla’s business model: selling luxury cars over the phone or Internet and then delivering them to the front door of high-net-worth customers. **SNIP** The whole...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. June 21 — Two brothers were convicted Friday of helping run a North Carolina-based support cell that funneled cigarette-smuggling profits to the militant group Hezbollah. Mohamad Hammoud, 28, accused of being the leader of the cell, was convicted of 16 counts that included providing material support to Hezbollah. Chawki Hammoud, 37, was found guilty of charges including cigarette smuggling, credit card fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Jurors deliberated 21 hours over three days. On Friday afternoon, they told the judge they were deadlocked on one count, a charge that Mohammad Hammoud conspired with others to provide material support...

May 3, 2013 N.C. high school student arrested for leaving shotgun in car gets scholarship to Liberty University By Katie LaPotin There is a silver lining in the story of the North Carolina high school student arrested Monday for accidentally leaving his shotgun in his locked car – he’s just earned himself a scholarship to his dream school, Liberty University.Cole Withrow was expelled from school and charged with a felony after school administrators overheard a private conversation between Withrow and his mother about the gun. According to a family friend, Withrow had gone skeet shooting the day before and forgot...

On Tuesday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes asserted that, since Republicans have taken control of the North Carolina state government, the state is moving toward becoming an "insane right-wing dystopia," and claimed that the GOP wants to engage in "voter suppression" in the state. Hayes: It's a state that, to everyone's surprise, went blue in 2008 and was narrowly carried by Mitt Romney in 2012, a state viewed by many as an emerging Democratic foothold in the South, as evidenced by the party holding their convention in Charlotte in 2012. But a state that, since the election of...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official said Tuesday. If confirmed by the Senate, Watt, D-N.C., a 20-year veteran of the House, would replace Edward DeMarco, an appointee of President George W. Bush who has been a target of housing advocates, liberal groups and Democratic lawmakers. snip The president was expected to name Watt on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Watt’s nomination comes...

Raleigh, N.C. — It took just 45 minutes Thursday morning for the Senate Commerce Committee to approve a massive rollback of rules and regulations meant to protect the state's environment. Senate Bill 612 would require cities and counties to repeal any rules stricter than state or federal law. It would also require a list of environmental oversight boards and agencies to repeal or rewrite any state rule stricter than federal regulation on any given matter. Those agencies include the Mining and Energy Commission, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Environmental Management Commission, the Commission for Public Health, the...

RALEIGH — The state House passed a bill Wednesday requiring voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls in 2016, after an emotionally charged debate that underscored North Carolina’s political polarization. House Republicans pushed through the measure saying that the public demanded more stringent ballot security at polling places, that voter fraud was more prevalent than is understood, and that in a modern, mobile society fewer election officials personally knew voters. “Our system of government depends upon open and honest elections,” said Rep. David Lewis, a farm equipment dealer from Dunn and a Republican. “Having people...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said they are investigating after a home intruder was shot and killed while trying to force his way into a Charlotte apartment. WBTV reported that the shooting happened around 3 a.m. Sunday at the Alta Grove apartments on Season Grove Lane in northwest Charlotte. Charlotte-Mecklenburg homicide investigators said the intruder was shot after struggling over a weapon with the man who lived there. Authorities said the apartment resident suffered a minor gunshot wound to the hand. They said a woman was also at the apartment and was not injured. Officials said the intruder was pronounced dead...

Sam Grant nearly celebrated his eighth birthday party in jail. The North Carolina boy had been charged with two felony counts of discharging his BB gun. The parents of a then-seven-year-old North Carolina boy are beyond angry after their son was charged with two felony counts of possessing a BB gun. Just moments before the child was expected to answer to the allegations before a Catawba County judge — the charges were dropped. -- But their world got rocked when the received a letter from the Department of Juvenile Justice summoning the family to court. “They told us that they...

Brown-eyed people are more likely than blue-eyed people to pack a gun in North Carolina. Much about the nearly 400,000 concealed pistol permit holders here – including their names, addresses, weights and, yes, even eye colors – is a matter of public record. But state lawmakers are trying to change that. A bill crawling through the N.C. General Assembly aims to make that information confidential, open only to law enforcement. It is one of more than a dozen measures introduced this year as lawmakers bow to long-held demands among gun rights activists. As mass shootings fuel debate about the proper...

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — He looks like a typical 7-year-old boy, but on Tuesday night, Sam Grant is facing charges that many adults never will. He is charged with two felonies for something that happened when his mother turned her back for just a second. His parents told Eyewitness News that they're outraged. "We are both just shocked. We have been in a state of shock over this," said Ray Robbins. Sam's parents said this scenario began in February when Sam was playing outside with his BB gun. They said he began shooting at an abandoned house right across the...

MAIG is running their anti-gun “day of action” garbage today. Sadly, I didn’t know about this beforehand. Raleigh What: Candlelight Vigil Who: Gun violence survivor Kim Erickson Yaman and Jen Geurin Ferrell, founder of Forward Americans When: 6:30 PM Where: Moore Square, 200 S. Blount Street Who would like to join me counterprotesting? Sign suggestions Nanny Bloomberg should take his billions and go home to NYC If MAIG wants background checks, they should start by checking themselves! (for children) My mommy’s (or daddy’s) gun protects me Guns save Lives! I’m Pro-Choice on Self-Defense I’m on Twitter at @sdsorrentino. Send me...

ASHEVILLE — The Asheville Citizen Times is reporting that police on Wednesday charged an Asheville midwife with killing an unborn child through a mishandled delivery. Tina Louise Bailey, 44, of Craig Circle Drive, provided medical services to a woman in labor in July, according to an arrest warrant. Those included catheterization and internal obstetrical examinations, police said. Bailey also gave medical advice without the training to do so, investigators said.

FULL TITLE: Girl, 16, found dead on train tracks next to her best friend, 18, was 'in a dark place' after break-up with her girlfriend Two teenagers have been found dead side-by-side on train tracks after one of the girls was 'in a dark place' following a recent break up with her long-time girlfriend. Arielle Troutman, 16, and Hannah Rigley, 18, were found dead beneath a train on the edge of the McAlpine Creek Greenway in Charlotte, North Carolina early on Sunday morning. The train driver had seen them apparently sleeping on the track, sounded his bell and pulled his...

Angelica Velazquillo's fight for mental health care for undocumented immigrants began not in a hospital room but in a busy downtown Charlotte intersection. In September 2011, Velazquillo, then a 25-year-old undocumented woman brought to the U.S. when she was 4, joined nine protesters who blocked traffic, chanting "undocumented and unafraid." Charlotte police arrested the group, charging them with impeding traffic and disorderly conduct, offenses that sparked their deportation proceedings. Their deportations were later dropped and they were ordered to perform community service, a decision the group credited to the public interest in their case. "It was a turning point," she...

A 52-year-old county resident accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl in February 2012 accepted a plea agreement last month on the sexual abuse charge. Attorneys reached a so-called “West plea” under the condition that a doctor would evaluate the suspect to determine his level of risk as an offender – which would help the judge decide an appropriate sentence ranging from probation to eight years in state prison. Arnaldo Mateo Hernandez – also known as Arnaldo Gomez – was set for that doctor’s evaluation Thursday on the felony charge, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14. Under...

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office says a homeowner shot a suspect after he kicked in his front door. The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at 532 Hwy 14 in Landrum. Master Deputy Kevin Bobo tells 7 On Your Side, the suspect’s wife was inside the residence with the homeowner. The suspect has been identified as Dakota Hester. Authorities say he kicked in the door, assaulted his wife then proceeded upstairs. Deputies say the homeowner, Jonathan Wofford went into his bedroom and locked the door. Deputies say Hester kicked open the door and then was shot by Wofford.

As North Carolina legislators move to close public access to firearm permits, some sheriffs are already refusing to hand over the records. Following a public showdown with the sheriff in Cherokee County, a local newspaper editor quit last week after his records request – which was denied – made him the target of death threats. The county has the state’s highest rate of concealed-handgun permits. In Gaston County, Sheriff Alan Cloninger responded Friday to a newspaper’s request for gun-permit records by withholding names and addresses of permit holders.

Grass Roots North Carolina has released an analysis of the firearms-related legislation that have been introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly so far this session. Their analysis also indicates their support, opposition, or a neutral or non-position on a bill. NC Gun Legislation Analysis GRNC offers apologies that the intense activities surrounding state and national legislation have delayed our legislative update to members. In particular, we have been inundated with emails regarding SB 124: "Shoot Gun From Inside/To Harm or Incite Fear.” A more detailed analysis is below, but the short answer is that although the bill does not...

A self-styled 'Mountain Man' who left modern conveniences for the backwoods of North Carolina decades ago is butting heads with local officials who say his forest compound isn’t up to code – and he may have television to blame. Eustace Conway, who owns and operates a school that teaches hundreds of people how to live closer to nature, received a cease and desist letter from county officials who say his buildings don't meet code.

**SNIP** I was dumbstruck. $400,000 is a huge sum of money... so huge that it comprised 40 percent of Blueprint NC’s entire budget. It is also significant because it’s coming from a foundation who thought they were giving money for a 501(c)3 to “strengthen democracy,” but instead awarded it to what appears to be an organization who engages in partisan politics. Winner was understandably upset after reading the initial column in the Observer, and told me, “We want citizens to be more engaged, but distributing this memo does not further those purposes.... It’s bad judgement.... We do not support attacking...

North Carolina’s newly elected Republican governor Pat McCrory hasn’t been in office for even two months, and already progressive groups and their allies within North Carolina’s state Democratic party have the long knives out. That is, if a leaked memo from the progressive organization Blueprint North Carolina is to be believed. The controversial memo was first reported on by the Charlotte Observer this past Friday. The Observer reported: A group that sent out a memo with tips on how to attack Gov. Pat McCrory and other Republican leaders exercised “bad judgment” that could jeopardize its funding, the director of a...

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED! Make ‘Five Phone Calls for Freedom’ We are asking millions of Second Amendment supporters, represented by the Coalition and others, to deliver a loud and clear message to Congress by making 5 phone calls on Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 25 & 26). Please note that we said CALL, not email. We want millions of voices to ring through the congressional switchboard, so please note that you might have to try several times to get through. Specifically, we are asking you to call: 1. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at 202-224-2541 2. House Speaker John Boehner at 202-225-0600...

In a blatantly partisan move, the staff of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) successfully subverted state law to facilitate online voter registration in North Carolina by the 2012 Barack Obama campaign. In doing so they coordinated with partisans behind closed doors, lied about the NC Attorney General’s Office concurring with the SBE staff on the issue, and dodged oversight by their own board and the legislature. The end result was to add thousands of people to the North Carolina voter rolls illegally. The SBE staff’s audacity is so breath-taking that it’s hard to believe, so let us...

BURLINGTON, N.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has cancelled the deportation of Isaias Valles-Castejon, who was scheduled to be deported back to Mexico tonight at midnight

After Mabel Muñoz was stopped by police while driving to her college dormitory, the honor student was

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Police said a Mooresville woman shot a man who was breaking into her apartment. They said she shot the man twice in the leg Sunday morning on Colonial Ridge Circle.

GRNC Alert 2-4-13: ATTEND GRNC RALLY TOMORROW! Details Category: GRNC Alerts Published on Monday, 04 February 2013 23:08 Written by Web Volunteer Hits: 93 Show politicians you mean business! Your gun rights are under siege! It is time to demonstrate to the world that you will no longer tolerate such attacks. GRNC is putting a rally under the office windows of legislators at the General Assembly on Feb. 5 at 12:00 PM. Yes, you will have to take time off from work, but it is crucial that we hold the rally at a time and place where politicians and the...

RALEIGH — Efforts are under way to make North Carolina the first state since Alaska in 1980 to eliminate taxes on total personal income. Competing proposals also would launch a pro-growth tax reform renaissance that would scrap corporate income taxes that discourage capital investment and savings. The John Locke Foundation introduced a plan Wednesday including those elements, along with a repeal of estate taxes and the retail sales tax at the state level. Researchers at the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C-based tax research group, are among those lauding the JLF plan. “The whole point is economic growth. It’s not...

A Transylvania County man fights off an intruder who broke into his home. It happened around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon at a home on King Mountain Road in the Cedar Mountain community. The Transylvania County Sheriff's Office says the intruder entered an outbuilding and came face-to-face with the homeowner. Deputies say the man had a machete and told the homeowner to give him money. The homeowner pulled out a .22 pistol and shot the intruder with ratshot.

ZEBULON, N.C. (WTVD) -- Hundreds of people met Wednesday evening to talk passionately about the Second Amendment and their rights to bear arms. Three local sheriffs, including Wake County's Donnie Harrison, took part in the minutemen's discussions in Zebulon. The meeting came just hours after President Obama unveiled his gun control plans. A boiling point in the meeting came about midway through. When dozens inside and dozens more outside of the Fargo Cattle Company Steakhouse bristled about a possibility that the federal government could violate their Second Amendment rights.

The newly elected North Carolina General Assembly was sworn in this week. It is decidedly Republican, with the Republicans having a 31-to-19 advantage in the state Senate and a 67 to 52 advantage in the state House. There is also a huge change for 2013 in that North Carolina has a Republican governor. Former Gov. Bev "Dumpling" Perdue vetoed quite a few bills in the last session and even more bills were never introduced because the Republicans knew they would never make it past the governor's desk. Now the legislature has a governor who will be working with them, not...

We made history in November by helping put into office a new Republican Governor, Lt. Governor, and a Republican super-majority in the legislature. We have new Republican legislators from districts who haven’t elected a Republican in 100 years. Much of this success is thanks to you, the grassroots conservatives who put everything you had into restoring North Carolina. It is now time to help our representatives implement conservative principles, and our first and most critical issue is Obamacare. There is still time for our new Republican Governor Pat McCrory to opt out of the setting up health care exchanges in...

CARY, N.C. — Some teachers in North Carolina are signing up for classes to carry concealed guns. It comes in the wake of the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn. A combat center in Cary started offering free gun training courses after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. The gun center said so many teachers are signing up that there’s now a waiting list. “Ever since we posted that we’re offering free classes for teachers, we’ve been absolutely crushed, inundated. Teachers want to learn about firearms,” said Molotov Mitchell of Triangle Krav Maga.

A New Year's Eve possum drop that attracts thousands of people to a tiny western North Carolina town will go on this year, with one big change: It won't involve a live possum.

**SNIP** The main driving force in the movement has been a hatred of President Obama, a virulent hatred indeed. Now that the president has been resoundingly given another four years, the tea party’s leaders need new objects of scorn. And there’s the rub. Movements built on antagonism toward one individual tend to be short-lived, and when that individual triumphs despite loud opponents, it’s frustrating for the losers. But if the party’s over, the hangover remains. No place may have a bigger headache than North Carolina. The tea party’s push helped Republicans win control of the General Assembly, led to a...

GREENSBORO, N.C. —Maria Perez’s fate isn’t clear right now. The mother of three young girls has lived in the Alamance County for the past decade. She’s often known as provider. Perez also takes care of her elderly father who suffers from glaucoma. Perez is set to be deported back to Mexico on December 27th ripping her away from the family that loves her so much. Perez turned to the North Carolina Dream Team for help

Recognizing the time to act is now if we are going to stop any new gun control bills, Paul Valone of Grass Roots North Carolina sent out this alert last night. It says we need to meet the threat head-on. It proposes a three-prong approach consisting of contacting NC's Congressional delegation, conducting public education, and reframing the debate. Earlier alerts this week have discussed the ineffectiveness of the Gun-Free School Zone Act. The alert also gives contact information including phone numbers for the newly elected members of the North Carolina delegation. Given that they took a strongly pro-gun rights stance,...

State funding to keep NC group homes open through JanuaryPosted: 10:17 a.m. today Updated: 44 minutes ago Raleigh, N.C. — State officials said Tuesday that they have freed up $1 million to allow people with mental illness or developmental disabilities to stay in group homes across North Carolina through the end of January. A change in federal rules means that, as of Jan. 1, group home patients are no longer eligible to receive Medicaid payments for personal care services, such as assistance with bathing, feeding or other daily chores. The loss of funding puts the homes that rely on that...

Lincoln County residents can now apply for and purchase gun permits through the Sheriff’s Office website. The agency recently made the switch to online applications to “provide better customer service” and “streamline the permit process,” ultimately cutting back on the public’s flow of traffic in and out of the Sheriff’s Office and increasing the system’s level of convenience for residents, according to a press release. Prior to moving the permit process online, citizens had to make multiple trips to the Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff David Carpenter told the Times-News on Thursday.

Apex, N.C. — Police were searching Thursday for a man who robbed an elderly couple in their Apex home at knifepoint. Mildred Perry, 84, was returning home, at 306 Olive St., at about 12:50 p.m. after a trip to the grocery store when a masked man brandishing a knife forced her inside and demanded cash, police said. Her husband, Ronald Perry, 86, was home at the time, and he told WRAL News that he heard a man threatening his wife. When he went to check on her, he said, the armed man told him to sit down or he would...

Notre Dame (1) v USC Thread - 8pm EST ABC TV. If Notre Dame wins they will play for the National Championship, as unfair as that might seem.

Constitutional Carry may soon be coming to North Carolina. Long ridiculed by outsiders as the “Massachusetts of Dixie” because of our restrictive (by Southern standards) gun control laws, North Carolina is poised to take its place among the leaders in gun rights reform. Sources, which I can’t divulge, have made it clear that Constitutional Carry is on the radar. We can expect to see some concrete movement in the New Year. While the Federal elections were disappointing for gun owners, North Carolina, coming off a historic Republican led redistricting plan, has turned the entire State government over to the Republican...

RALEIGH -- Federal officials are scaling back a program that enlists the aid of local police and sheriff’s offices to identify people who are in the country illegally, in favor of a national program that uses fingerprints collected by the FBI.U.S. Immigrations Customs and Enforcement officials say the so-called 287(g) program that includes Wake County will continue at least until the end of the year. But ICE says the program is under review, and that it will no longer train local police under the program or give them the authority to question, investigate and arrest people they suspect are in...

US Goes Left, NC Goes Rightby John Hammer Editor November 08, 2012 North Carolina and Guilford County took a sharp right turn while the nation continued on a leftward course on Tuesday, Nov. 6, with the reelection of President Barack Hussein Obama. **SNIP** North Carolina went the other way. The state elected Republican Pat McCrory governor, Republican Dan Forest as lieutenant governor, solid Republican majorities in both the North Carolina state House and state Senate, and preserved the Republican majority on the nominally nonpartisan state Supreme Court. So Republicans will control all three branches of state government.

Wow. #Obama supporter admitted he's voted 4 times already w/ 1 to go. #tcot #gop2012 #mapoli #NCpoli http://t.co/Kj2PjJPy— Brad Marston (@BradMarston) November 02, 2012 Outraged citizens are using Twitter to investigate a man’s Facebook claim that he’s proudly voted four times already and intends to vote again. Brad Marston captured the post in a screen shot: Turns out the folks at TrueTheVote.org are very interested in Mr. 'Vote 5X' Turner. #tcot #gop2012 http://t.co/ZkPA9U6A— Brad Marston (@BradMarston) November 02, 2012 He voted early, and often, if his claim is to be believed. Why would someone publicly boast about committing voter...