Leland, NC: Little Tyrants for Victim Disarmament

Leland, NC Mayor Brenda Bozeman, and presumably Town Manager David Hollis, are slow learners.

Leland Issues State of Emergency and Evacuation Notice in Preparation for Hurricane Florence
RESTRICTIONS ON POSSESSION, TRANSPORATION, AND TRANSFER OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS AND SUBSTANCES

Effective at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, the transportation or possession, or the sale or purchase of any dangerous weapon or substance, while off one’s own premises, is prohibited. This restriction does not apply to any individual or group of people who has the responsibility for the preservation of the public’s health, safety, or welfare. This restriction does not apply to any law enforcement officers, military personnel assigned for hurricane disaster duties, emergency medical personnel, or any other individual or groups of individuals whose job/employment will assist with the public’s health, safety, or welfare (i.e. fuel delivery personnel, utility repair personnel, etc.)

A firearms ban for the duration.

I tweeted them a note about NC General Statutes Chapter 166A.

§ 166A-19.31.Power of municipalities and counties to enact ordinances to deal with states of emergency.

(b) Type of Prohibitions and Restrictions Authorized. – The ordinances authorized by this section may permit prohibitions and restrictions:
(4) Upon the possession, transportation, sale, purchase, storage, and use of gasoline, and dangerous weapons and substances, except that this subdivision does not authorize prohibitions or restrictions on lawfullyblockquote> possessed firearms or ammunition. As used in this subdivision, the term “dangerous weapons and substances” has the same meaning as it does under G.S. 14-288.1. As used in this subdivision, the term “firearm” has the same meaning as it does under G.S. 14-409.39(2).

The Firearms Policy Coalition sent them a pre-litigation demand letter.

Shortly after, Leland updated their Facebook announcement. The SOE notice on their web site was revised to refer to NCGS Ch. 166A. But they failed to change the language implying a ban on the carry of firearms.

I emailed the mayor and town manager about that, and CC’d FPC.

Manager Hollis wrote back and told me they issued a new SOE notice.

I poked around on the town’s web site, found the blog, and discovered a new SOE notice. This one does reflect the actual law.

RESTRICTIONS ON POSSESSION, TRANSPORATION, AND TRANSFER OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS AND SUBSTANCES

Effective at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, the transportation or possession, or the sale or purchase of dangerous weapons or substances, while off one’s own premises, is prohibited. This prohibition and restriction does not apply to lawfully possessed firearms or ammunition.

Well and good, but…

The original is still there. It still — as of this writing — fails to mention the firearms/ammunition exclusion. It seems likely to me that most people would see the original notice; they might even bookmark it for future reference and not consider the possibility that a different one might suddenly appear somewhere else.

If they can update the original — the one SOE of which people are mostly likely to be aware — to reference the correct Statute, they can update the language to reflect the law.

Hollis assures me that, “The police are fully aware of the limits of the law and the limits of enforcement that apply to the right to bear arms.”

I am happy that the police are aware of the law. It is sad, though, that city management was not, even after the state was sued over this very thing.

Wait… what?

Federal judge says N.C. can’t ban all citizens’ guns during emergencies, April 2, 2012
When winter storms slammed North Carolina in early 2010, Gov. Bev Perdue declared a state of emergency.

The city of King followed on Feb. 5 with its own declaration of emergency that included — as allowed by state law — a ban on the possession of alcohol and firearms except at a person’s own home.

A Stokes County man, two other people and two gun-rights organizations sued the state, King and Stokes County that summer, claiming that their rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution were violated. The amendment protects citizens’ right to bear arms.

Now, a federal court has agreed, ruling that state law can’t make a blanket ban that keeps the plaintiffs from carrying or buying guns and ammunition during an emergency.

Slow. Learners.

They failed to recall the fuss over this in 2010. They failed to recall the federal lawsuit, and judge’s verdict.

They failed to know current law.

If they were any slower, they’d be in reverse.

They do seem to be — slowly — fixing their error, now that every knowledgeable rights group in the country brought the massive legal error to their attention. But I’d love an explanation of how they managed to maintain such a colossal state of moral, judisprudence, and legal cluelessness for all these years. In short, why did they make this mistake in the first place?

If mistake it was. Perhaps they were counting on ignorance on the part of their citizens, and thought they could get away with a little tyranny.


Carl is an unpaid TZP volunteer. If you found this post useful, please consider dropping something in his tip jar. He could really use the money, what with truck repairs and recurring bills. And the rabbits need feed. Truck insurance, lest I be forced to sell it.
Click here to donate via PayPal.
(More Tip Jar Options)

Facebooktwitterredditpinteresttumblrmail

3 thoughts on “Leland, NC: Little Tyrants for Victim Disarmament”

  1. Good work Carl!

    Folks, Carl is a 2nd amendment warrior if there ever was one and all of us liberty lovers will be forever in his debt.

    1. I think the Firearms Policy Coalition had a lot more to do with it than I. But since I got defensive responses at all (and an admission that they had to update or pull the old, unlawful notice), it probably didn’t hurt for them to get notice that a lot of folks were watching and would hold them accountable

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *