Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler has stated that firearms, even those carried pursuant to a concealed carry permit, will be prohibited at the North Carolina State Fair, which opens next week. Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun-rights group, contends that the Commissioner’s policy is unlawful. In the post, I’ll explore the legal issue.
guns
Criminal Charges for Random Gunfire
A man in Charlotte was struck by a stray bullet on July 4th. The police say that “it appears that it was not an intentional shooting but that someone . . . fired a celebration shot into the air” and happened to hit the man. The shot could have been fired anywhere in a several … Read more
Smart Guns
On balance, Americans like freedom, choices, and guns. It would seem to follow that Americans would support a free market that gives us an array of choices among guns. Yet some gun rights advocates are pressuring gun dealers not to sell so-called smart guns, which can “recognize” their owners and can only be fired by … Read more
Three-Time Felon Charged with Gun Possession Loses Second Amendment Argument
This week, the court of appeals decided State v. Price, an interesting gun rights and Fourth Amendment case. Facts. The defendant was standing in a forest, near a deer stand, holding a rifle, in full camouflage, when a wildlife officer approached him. The officer asked the defendant for his hunting license, under the license check … Read more
How Should the Police Respond to a Report of a Man with a Gun?
Case study: the Neenah stop. Recently in Neenah, WI, a woman called the police to report a man with a gun strapped to his back walking down the street. The call was placed to the non-emergency police number and the caller didn’t report that the man was doing anything threatening, but she did suggest that … Read more
Concealed Carry in Parks and on Playgrounds
Can a concealed carry permit holder carry a concealed handgun in a park? On a playground? The legislature has changed the law in this area twice in recent years and I get lots of questions about it. This post summarizes the basics. Concealed weapons generally are forbidden. Carrying a concealed weapon of any kind, including … Read more
New Law Regarding Disposal of Seized Guns
When the police seize a gun in the course of an investigation, what becomes of it after any resulting court case concludes? A recent legislative enactment has changed the most common answer to that question – and may leave a significant number of weapons in limbo. Prior law. Until recently, G.S. 15-11.1(b1) provided that once … Read more
Gun Bill Poised to Become Law
The General Assembly has passed H 937, which awaits the Governor’s signature. It is an omnibus gun bill, following rather closely on the heels of the omnibus firearms bill enacted in 2011, which I covered in part here. Assuming that it becomes law – and I am not aware of any prospect of a veto … Read more
Felons and Guns: Update on the Britt Line of Cases
Remember Britt v. State, 363 N.C. 546 (2009), in which the state supreme court ruled that a man with a single, non-violent felony conviction from 1979 had a state constitutional right to possess a firearm, making the felon-in-possession law, G.S. 14-415.1 unconstitutional as applied to him? I blogged about Britt here, but several years have … Read more
Open Carry
Do law-abiding North Carolina residents have a right to carry a gun openly in public? Generally, yes. Federal constitutional right? The Supreme Court has recently ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms, including handguns, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and that it protects that right from … Read more