Monthly Archives: October 2010

Laws of North Carolina that need to change, Part 9 – Concealed Knives

Posted on October 25, 2010 by | 3 Comments
Did you know that under North Carolina law, a person who carries concealed about his person any knife except an “ordinary pocketknife” is commits a Class 2 misdemeanor even if he has a concealed handgun permit?
(a)        It shall be unlawful for any person willfully and intentionally to carry concealed about his person any bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slung shot, loaded cane, metallic knuckles, razor, shurikin, stun gun, or other deadly weapon of like kind, except when the person is on the person’s own premises.
(b1)      It is a defense to a prosecution under this section that:
(1)        The weapon was not a firearm;
(2)        The defendant was engaged in, or on the way to or from, an activity in which he legitimately used the weapon;
(3)        The defendant possessed the weapon for that legitimate use; and
(4)        The defendant did not use or attempt to use the weapon for an illegal purpose. The burden of proving this defense is on the defendant.
(c)        Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a1) of this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor for the first offense. A second or subsequent offense is punishable as a Class I felony.
(d)        This section does not apply to an ordinary pocket knife carried in a closed position. As used in this section, “ordinary pocket knife” means a small knife, designed for carrying in a pocket or purse, that has its cutting edge and point entirely enclosed by its handle, and that may not be opened by a throwing, explosive, or spring action

So if I carry a gun concealed with my license, I’m ok. If I carry a knife concealed to use as a retention device, I get snatched up by the police. Does this make any sense? Maybe we should just jettison this whole law and let people decide to carry openly or concealed without bothering them.

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Posted in Laws of NC that need to change, NC Politics

Hunter’s Safety Class

Posted on October 24, 2010 by | Leave a comment

I took a NC Hunter’s Safety class yesterday.


In order to get a hunting license you have to sit through a class that explains how to avoid hurting yourself and others while you hunt. For a real city boy like me, it’s a necessary class. What was a revelation about the class was the guys they have as Game Wardens here in Wake County. Good ol’ boys would be the best description. The elder of the two has been a game warden for 18 years. I sort of expected that a game warden might be at least neutral about new hunters. This guy was an evangelist for the sport of hunting. I got the impression that he was disappointed that he couldn’t take each and every one of us out the the woods personally so that we could bag our first deer. I wish he could as well.


The next step is to talk with a friend of ours about going out on his property and taking a deer or two that he wants rid of. Luckily, Franklin County doesn’t have a law requiring rifle hunters to be elevated off the ground in a deer stand like they do here in Wake County. I’ll be getting my rifle back from my father sometime fairly soon, and taking the trip up to my friend’s farm. Wish me luck. I am solemnly informed that venison is tasty. Hopefully I will get to find out.

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Posted in About me

Why ignorant people should never make law, this time with pictures

Posted on October 21, 2010 by | 1 Comment

This video is almost exactly the words posted in japete’s comments thread. Enjoy.



Here’s the original post

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Posted in Joan Peterson is ignorant

90 Days for a handgun permit?

Posted on October 21, 2010 by | Leave a comment
Many of you have heard about the horrific murder that took place in a well to do area of Connecticut, commonly called the “Cheshire Murders.” This is the one where the police spend so much time setting up to enter the house that the murders had time to rape and kill their victims and then set the house on fire before fleeing straight into the arms of the waiting police.

We often like to say that the police are generally on hand to lay out the tape lines and fill out the reports. They will certainly do what they have to do to solve your crime, but they are rarely capable of stopping the crime in progress. It seems that the people of Connecticut have received and understood that message and are taking steps to defend themselves.

In reading that story something jumped out at me. The residents of Connecticut are buying “’defense-grade shotguns’ because of the relatively short waiting period to buy them — two weeks as opposed to ninety days for a handgun permit”

What the hell is going on in Connecticut that the State government has the audacity to demand that a citizen wait 90 days to purchase a firearm? How bad does it have to be when a 2 week wait seems like a short period of time compared to what it could be?
Starting from zero in Pennsylvania in the middle of the Obama gun rush, it took me 2 weeks to get the gun shipped in. The sale was immediate, but the License To Carry Firearms (PA’s name for a concealed license) took 5 weeks to arrive in the mail. Even here in North Carolina the Sheriff has 90 days to complete the processing of your Concealed Handgun Permit.

They say that a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. All of Connecticut got mugged with the Cheshire Murders. One hopes that they take the time to learn from their past mistakes and reform their draconian gun ownership laws.

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Posted in National Politics

Laws of North Carolina that need to change, Part 8 – Larceny of pine straw

Posted on October 20, 2010 by | 5 Comments
Conviction of a felony results in a permanent bar to ownership of a firearm. What things in North Carolina will get you charged with a felony?
If any person shall take and carry away, or shall aid in taking or carrying away, any pine needles or pine straw being produced on the land of another person upon which land notices, signs, or posters prohibiting the raking or removal of pine needles or pine straw have been placed in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 14‑159.7, or upon which posted notices have been placed in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 14‑159.7, with the intent to steal the pine needles or pine straw, that person shall be guilty of a Class H felony. (1997‑443, s. 19.25(aa).)

(a)        Larceny of horses, mules, swine, or cattle is a Class H felony.
(a1)      Larceny of a dog is a Class I felony.

If any person shall willfully sign, or cause to be signed, or willfully assent to the signing of the name of any person without his consent, or of any deceased or fictitious person, to any petition or recommendation with the intent of procuring any commutation of sentence, pardon or reprieve of any person convicted of any crime or offense, or for the purpose of procuring such pardon, reprieve or commutation to be refused or delayed by any public officer, or with the intent of procuring from any person whatsoever, either for himself or another, any appointment to office, or to any position of honor or trust, or with the intent to influence the official action of any public officer in the management, conduct or decision of any matter affecting the public, he shall be punished as a Class I felon; and if any person shall willfully use any such paper for any of the purposes or intents above recited, knowing that any part of the signatures to such petition or recommendation has been signed thereto without the consent of the alleged signers, or that names of any dead or fictitious persons are signed thereto, he shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be punished in like manner. (1883, c. 275; Code, s. 1034; Rev., s. 3426; C.S., s. 4297; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 47; 1981, c. 63, s. 1; c. 179, s. 14.)

If any person shall commit the crime against nature, with mankind or beast, he shall be punished as a Class I felon.

If any person, being married, shall marry any other person during the life of the former husband or wife, every such offender, and every person counseling, aiding or abetting such offender, shall be punished as a Class I felon.

If any person shall bribe or offer to bribe or shall aid, advise, or abet in any way another in such bribe or offer to bribe, any player or participant in any athletic contest with intent to influence his play, action, or conduct and for the purpose of inducing the player or participant to lose or try to lose or cause to be lost any athletic contest or to limit or try to limit the margin of victory or defeat in such contest; or if any person shall bribe or offer to bribe or shall aid, advise, or abet in any way another in such bribe or offer to bribe, any referee, umpire, manager, coach, or any other official or an athletic club or team, league, association, institution or conference, by whatever name called connected with said athletic contest with intent to influence his decision or bias his opinion or judgment for the purpose of losing or trying to lose or causing to be lost said athletic contest or of limiting or trying to limit the margin of victory or defeat in such contest, such person shall be punished as a Class I felon

If any player or participant in any athletic contest shall accept, or agree to accept, a bribe given for the purpose of inducing the player or participant to lose or try to lose or cause to be lost or limit or try to limit the margin of victory or defeat in such contest; or if any referee, umpire, manager, coach, or any other official of an athletic club, team, league, association, institution, or conference connected with an athletic contest shall accept or agree to accept a bribe given with the intent to influence his decision or bias his opinion or judgment and for the purpose of losing or trying to lose or causing to be lost said athletic contest or of limiting or trying to limit the margin of victory or defeat in such contest, such person shall be punished as a Class I felon.

 (b)        Felony Offense. – Any person who knowingly operates or attempts to operate an audiovisual recording device in a motion picture theater to transmit, record, or otherwise make a copy of a motion picture, or any part thereof, without the written consent of the motion picture theater owner shall be guilty of a felony, punishable as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
(c)        Penalty. – A violation of subsection (b) of this section is punishable as follows:
(1)        Unless the conduct is covered under some other provision of law providing greater punishment, any person convicted of a violation of subsection (b) of this section is guilty of:
a.         A Class I felony, if the violation is a first offense under this section, with a minimum fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
b.         A Class I felony, if the violation is a second or subsequent offense under this section, with a minimum fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000).

I didn’t see any definition of “Crime Against Nature.”

The best part about all these crimes that will get you barred from possessing a firearm for life. Theft of pine straw and theft of horses, mules, swine, or cattle are considered the worst of these. They are Class H felonies. The rest are Class I. The guy who steals pine straw will get a worse punishment that the guy who steals your dog .

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Posted in Laws of NC that need to change, NC Politics

Laws of North Carolina that need to change, Part 6 – Carrying of weapons into assemblies

Posted on October 19, 2010 by | 2 Comments
According to North Carolina Law,

(a)            It shall be unlawful for any person to carry any gun, rifle, or pistol into any assembly where a fee has been charged for admission thereto, or into any establishment in which alcoholic beverages are sold and consumed.  Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

So it looks like it is illegal to carry a concealed firearm into a movie theater. Does that make sense?

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Posted in Laws of NC that need to change

Laws of North Carolina that need to change, Part 7 – Weapons at Parades

Posted on October 19, 2010 by | Leave a comment
So you’re walking down the street and you see a parade, so you stop to watch. A cop notices that you have a gun. Class 1 misdemeanor

(a)        It shall be unlawful for any person participating in, affiliated with, or present as a spectator at any parade, funeral procession, picket line, or demonstration upon any private health care facility or upon any public place owned or under the control of the State or any of its political subdivisions to willfully or intentionally possess or have immediate access to any dangerous weapon. Violation of this subsection shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor. It shall be presumed that any rifle or gun carried on a rack in a pickup truck at a holiday parade or in a funeral procession does not violate the terms of this act.

This probably also means that if you and 6 friends meet in the local city park and have an open carry meeting, the cops can claim you are having a “demonstration” and round you all up. I guess in North Carolina you are allowed your 1st Amendment or your 2nd. You get to choose.

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Posted in Laws of NC that need to change, NC Politics

Laws of North Carolina that need to change, Part 5 – Purchase Permits

Posted on October 19, 2010 by | 1 Comment
To purchase a pistol in the State of North Carolina you must seek permission from your County Sheriff. Here in Wake County it would cost you $5 per permit (limit 5 permits per application), and the Sheriff has 7 working days to complete his paperwork and give the permit to you. You must appear in person Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5PM, to fill out the paperwork. If and when you are approved, you must return and pick up the permits during normal business hours. Permits are valid for 5 years from the date of issue. Assuming you have a valid NC Concealed Handgun Permit, you don’t need the permit to purchase.

There doesn’t appear to be much discretion on the part of the Sheriff. If you meet the rules laid down, you get the permit. In the event of denial, you get to appeal to once directly to the Sheriff, and if that fails, to the Chief District Judge for Wake County.

I imagine that this system made a certain amount of sense in a time when national instant checks were not available, and it was difficult to tell for sure if the guy you were about to sell a pistol to was a felon or not. Nowadays though, there is no reason to force a person to take time off from work twice to hoof it in to the County Sheriff’s office to beg official permission to purchase a pistol. It is also an annoying and unnecessary requirement that you wait 7 working days for you answer. This amounts to a waiting period. You could, of course, get your permit ahead of time and wander around for the next five years with it in your pocket. I think that this is probably not how things happen. Most people decide to buy a gun and only then find out what paperwork drills the State has in store for them. It’s time to drop this requirement entirely. Let’s just have the gun store just call the NICS hotline, get an answer, and sell you the pistol.

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Posted in Laws of NC that need to change, NC Politics

If gun grabbers want to ban guns, why do they want “Safe Storage” laws?

Posted on October 18, 2010 by | Leave a comment
One of these days Paul Helmke is going to tell Joan Peterson to shut up. Once again, in the comments, japete is giving the game away. The gun banners have been told that an outright ban on guns is impossible, not just practically, but legally as well. Therefore, the only real option left to them is to make gun ownership as expensive and as legally risky as possible. One of the most efficient ways to make guns expensive and legally risky as possible is so called “Safe Storage” laws. Here’s what Joan had to say


Safe Storage laws rest on the false idea that a gun is a device unlike any other. Since a gun is “designed to kill,” it is somehow believed that the State has a role to play in deciding how and where that gun is stored inside your house. Let’s play a little thought game.

Let’s imagine you own a car. You park that car in your driveway and you leave it locked. Then you drop your keys inside, next to your door. Your 15 year old son takes the keys and uses your car to mow down pedestrians in front of the local school. Are you responsible for the tragedy because you failed to secure your car properly?

Almost no one would blame the parent in this case. Yet make the object a gun instead of a car, and the parent is instantly a villain. That’s because guns “are designed to kill!!!!1111eleventy”

Trigger locks make your gun inoperative in an emergency. In fact, that was one of the key findings in Heller, that DC could not force gun owners to lock their guns up in such a way as to prevent them from being used in an emergency.


The only option I have found that allows me to lock the gun up while simultaneously offering me immediate access in an emergency is the GunVault.

I recommend the thing wholeheartedly. But I won’t mandate that a person spend ANOTHER $100 just to satisfy some government regulator.

How much money is too much money for a poor person to pay in order to exercise his Constitutional rights? Will that $100 push him over the edge into “too expensive?” When you add safe storage to the list of “safety” devices that the gun grabbers want your gun to have, it makes the proposition of owning a gun too expensive for some people to afford. God help you if you want to carry the gun. Training and regulatory compliance costs are fierce. North Carolina wants $60-120 for training, $10 for fingerprints, and $80 for the license itself. Add on top of that a $500-600 Glock, $100 at least for a decent holster, and a few hundred dollars for ammo, and you can easily spend over $1,000. There are people counting on that expense to stop people from trying. They are actively adding requirements, both equipment and training, to make it more expensive. For them, the expense is not a bug, it’s a feature.

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Posted in Joan Peterson is ignorant, National Politics

Anatomy of a Tertiary Instalanche on a 3rd tier Gunblog

Posted on October 17, 2010 by | Leave a comment
Today I was treated to an example of what getting linked by Instapundit’s Glen Reynolds is like. This blog has been open for business for about 2 weeks. At best you, the generous reader, could class me as a third tier gunblogger. I’ve been linked a few times, leading to a few spikes. Today at 8:13 am, Instapundit posted


This links to


at SayUncle.com which refers to


at Joe Huffman’s “View from North Central Idaho.” which links to my post (really, a comment on my post)


here’s the result in graphical form


In order to get to my post and affect my sitemeter, you have to be reading Instapundit and click 3 links in a very specific order. And in the last 24 hours a total of 1,457 people have landed on that post, the VAST majority between 8:13 am and now. Of that 1,272 came through that three link route.





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Posted in Navel Gazing