NC moves closer to passing constitutional carry (03-21-2025--Hour3)

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[00:00:30] So North Carolina is now one step closer to constitutional carry. Did you hear this? Permitless carry legislation. This is for firearms. It passed the state senate yesterday, and that was the obstacle last time they tried to get this passed in the state.

[00:00:59] Senate Bill 50, called the Freedom to Carry NC Bill. It passed in a party line vote 26-18. The bill, all the Republicans by the way, all Republicans voted for it. All Democrats voted against, obviously. The bill would allow individuals to carry a concealed handgun without a permit in North Carolina.

[00:01:24] The state will still allow North Carolina. The state will still allow North Carolinians to obtain a concealed carry permit for the purpose of reciprocity agreements with other states. And that's important here. And that's important here. Because if you've got constitutional carry in North Carolina, and so you go out and you buy a firearm, right?

[00:01:46] You go through and contrary to what apparently most of the North Carolina political media believe, you do actually have to pass the federal NICS check, the background check.

[00:02:01] You've got to be cleared through the federal system. But you would no longer need to get the concealed carry permit that in places like here, Mecklenburg County, our sheriff, Gary Not My Fault McFadden, has been slow walking people's renewals for their concealed carry permits. Although he claims, although he claims, although he claims, although he claims this may shock you that that's not his fault.

[00:02:30] So it would eliminate the sheriff from this equation. And by the way, the reason why sheriffs sort of hold the keys to the kingdom on gun ownership in this state is because when Democrats ran the state, they didn't want black people legally obtaining firearms.

[00:02:51] That was why, because when you read the statutes, like the, like why the sheriffs were required to screen applicants and determine whether you were of good moral standing in the community. Which is so broad, right, that any sheriff could then use their discretion to deny you a pistol purchase permit. And that's just for the, that's for the pistol purchases.

[00:03:21] If you want to go buy a hunting rifle or something, you did not need the, obviously the concealed carry because you can't really conceal, you know, a long gun. I mean, people do, yes, you could, but generally speaking, the concealed carry permits, which is a, was sort of a higher bar to clear than just the pistol purchase permit.

[00:03:44] Those things were, I think they were like five bucks and you had to pay for a specific permit for every single handgun that you ever wanted to buy. You'd have to get a separate permit and then turn it in when you made the purchase. And then if you wanted to buy another gun, you would have to go get another pistol purchase permit. And the sheriff would have to approve that, which is why the advice was always, you know, get five. I think you could get five at a time.

[00:04:12] So get five all at once, pay 25 bucks, get five purchase permits at the same time. This way, you know, you use one to make the purchase that you're intending to make. And then you've got four others in case, you know, somebody comes along with a really good deal. You're at a gun shop or something. You're like, hey, I want to buy, you know, another firearm. And so I'm going to use this permit now. I don't have to wait and go through the laborious process again.

[00:04:41] Also, I'm not sure if our North Carolina political press corps that is covering this story, I'm not sure if they understand this or not. Maybe they're unaware. So I'm just, you know, trying to help you out because I'm a giver. Criminals don't get the permits. They don't get the concealed carry permits. They don't get the pistol purchase permits. And not only do they buy the guns illegally, but they also conceal them and carry them illegally too.

[00:05:11] They're criminals. It's like right there in their job description, right? So they don't follow the law. The people who do follow the law, the law-abiding people, they will go through these hoops like I did. I've been through the hoops. I've been through the hoops in Mecklenburg. I've been through the hoops up in Buncombe County. Buncombe County was actually pretty easy, I will say.

[00:05:37] And the office staff was very helpful up there. They were super helpful. And they did not have a lot of nice things to say about the Mecklenburg County operations. I'll just say. Because when you move up to Buncombe County from Mecklenburg and they have to try to work with you to get your license changed over or your permit address changed over and get you with your new permit up there. And like they were very helpful.

[00:06:06] I've not heard such great things about Mecklenburg. And it starts at the top with our sheriff. Not my fault, McFadden. So you would not need to have the concealed carry permit unless, of course, you want to go to another state and you want to be armed while you're traveling in that state. And that state has concealed carry permit laws. And you want your North Carolina permit to apply in that state.

[00:06:35] And states enter into these agreements called the reciprocity agreements where it's like reciprocal. We'll honor your concealed carry permit in our state and vice versa. So it allows for people to not have to – because it's absurd if you are – like when I go up to New York, I can't bring my firearm up to New York. I can't conceal carry up there.

[00:07:03] There's no reciprocity and you have to check every single state that you drive through to make sure you know what the laws are in that individual state. Is the firearms – is it allowed to be in the glove box? Is it allowed – does it have to be in the trunk? Does it have to have a – does it have to be dismantled and the bullets hidden under every single floor mat in the vehicle? Like all of these different laws that they come up with in order to try to limit people's ability to defend themselves. Law-abiding people.

[00:07:30] Because again, the law-abiding people are the only ones that are going to follow those laws. Again, right there in the job description. Criminals don't care. They're going to drive through whatever state they want to. They're going to conceal that gun wherever they want to. And they don't care. So the idea behind the constitutional carry is that you no longer need to have the concealed carry permit.

[00:07:59] That once you go through and you buy the gun and you get it legally, you go through the federal NICS check, and now you have your handgun, now you are allowed to, you know, put it on your waistband and put your coat on over the gun. And so it's concealed. Otherwise, if you – right now, if you don't have a concealed carry permit, but you do own legally a sidearm, you have to open carry.

[00:08:28] And so would you prefer people be open carrying or concealed carrying? And for some people, they get – no pun intended here – they get triggered if they see somebody open carrying. I don't care. If I see somebody with a firearm on their belt buckle or their belt and they're open carrying, I don't have any problem with that. They're going to be targeted first, right?

[00:08:57] Like that's the – if anything happens, if some bad actor attacks the venue that I am at and that bad actor sees the one with the open carry, they're the one that's going to draw the first round of fire, not me. So like that's fine. You want to open carry, you go right ahead. Now, if you're open carrying in a place that does not allow firearms, okay, now you're an idiot, okay? Because you shouldn't be open carrying on the property that says you can't be open carrying and you can't have a firearm.

[00:09:28] Also, I disagree with people who open carry the AR-15s and such, the long guns. I understand you're allowed to do it. I just don't think it's winning any hearts and minds. I don't. I think it's antagonistic towards people. I think that's why folks do it. And I'm not saying it's like, oh, the kid with the gun in the rack and the truck, you know, that just came back from hunting. That's not the scenario.

[00:09:54] I'm talking about people who, you know, purposefully transgress in order to, you know, force the issue into people's face. I just don't think it's an effective way to persuade people. Now, but that's the long gun. This is for pistols, for handguns. The concealed carry is for handguns.

[00:10:13] And so this constitutional carry bill would allow everybody who gets the, you know, gets the ability to carry the handgun legally, they would be allowed to conceal it on their person as they go about their lives. Now, of course, outrage has ensued. All right. So spring is here, a time of renewal and celebrations. You got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and the special days for mom and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to last a lifetime.

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[00:11:42] As a concealed carry permit holder, I am all for the constitutional carry. However, I think the legal penalties for negligent discharge, use in a crime, etc. Should be so severe that people will seek out training and practice regularly on their own. I mean, I'm not opposed to like that kind of idea, but you know, the Second Amendment absolutists will disagree with that.

[00:12:12] They will say the only requirement is in the Constitution and I'm allowed to own the gun. I don't need to do any training. I don't need to do anything, right? But yeah, I guess if you get at it with, you know, increased penalties for negligence, that's one of the things that drives me nuts is, you know, people who have the firearms and then somebody in the house, a kid picks up the gun and, you know, harms somebody or themselves.

[00:12:39] And like, that's, that's a terrible gun owner. Why would you leave your gun around the house like that? You got kids, those things need to be secured. They need to be away from where the kids will get them. And that's a lot of responsibility that, yes, it means you got to keep up with the gun at all times. It's a firearm. Right. You have to respect the firearm.

[00:13:06] So during a press conference. Sorry. Yeah, this is up in Raleigh. Democrats said that their caucus is going to be united to stop the legislation from going forward. They said permitless carry is a threat to public safety and will risk lives.

[00:13:27] So unless like, unless you're talking about the increase in gun deaths that may occur, which nobody has cited to me any statistics, nor have I seen any that indicate a constitutional carry state has higher rates of sort of innocent victims of gun violence or, you know, like these types of in the home discharges and stuff.

[00:13:55] How, how, how, how, how does it, how does it increase the threat to public safety? And here's something else too, guys. As the rulers of the blue dots, the cities, you know, these, these urban areas are under your control. And maybe if you don't want everybody walking around feeling like they have to protect themselves with firearms, maybe you should make these places safer. Right.

[00:14:24] Because that's what would do it. People walk around with concealed weapons because they are afraid that they are going to be victimized. And the way you reduce that fear is by making the community safer. And you guys running these urban areas like Charlotte, you have not done so. By the way, this is a bit of an aside, but I thought of this earlier today.

[00:14:48] And I mentioned the story yesterday where the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, they're going to be hiring armed private security. Not cops, but armed private security for Romare Bearden Park target range and the greenways. Right.

[00:15:14] So some of their parks that are seeing the increased violence, they're going to be hiring armed private security. Why wouldn't they ask the Mecklenburg County Sheriff to station deputies? These are Mecklenburg County commissioners that are in charge of the Mecklenburg County Parks and Rec. Why wouldn't they ask and budget instead of giving it to a private contractor? Which I thought Democrats were opposed to, by the way. Right. But why wouldn't they? Why wouldn't they ask the sheriff?

[00:15:45] To take lead on that. To have deputies acting as patrol officers or security. At the parks. It's their property. It's their control. Do they not trust the sheriff? Do they not trust his agency? Would he charge them too much money? Do they not think he could do a good job? Like, these are questions I think probably somebody should ask. The county commissioners.

[00:16:12] If they're going to be staffing up armed security, private security. But again, same thing. Like, are you allowed to conceal carry on the greenways? I don't even know. I haven't walked on a greenway since I lived near one and got burglarized from it. So, I'm not sure what the rule is on that. But, you know, maybe if criminals that are stalking prey out on the greenways, like, maybe if they thought that everybody jogging by was strapped,

[00:16:41] they may not jump out and attack joggers. Right? And here's the thing. They don't have to think everybody is strapped. They just have to know that a certain percentage are. That's the deterrent effect. Much like a couple cops on the greenway, one or two security guards on the greenway, act as a deterrent because you don't know where they might be and you might end up in an interaction altercation with them. That acts as a deterrent. So, I know they understand what this concept is about. Here's a great idea.

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[00:18:37] Yeah. Not the same thing. I think there's anything in schools, too. It's like there's a time where you have to worry about any of that stuff, but it seems over the past several decades, the violent criminals have more, have rights or something that you have to walk around. But if you ask me, honestly, violent criminals, if they're found to be guilty of a crime they committed, they should actually be euthanized that very day that they're found guilty because there's no reason for them to have second chances or comfort in prisons.

[00:19:07] Yeah. Euthanize people. So what about the people who are innocent that get wrongfully convicted? I have to say with DNA now, most violent criminals are pretty much, it's got to be an incontrovertible ruling. It's got to be like, yeah, this is DNA. You did this. Here you go. So you're talking about, but a lot of cases don't have DNA. Well, maybe so, but I bet you if you took violent criminals off the streets forever,

[00:19:35] the violent crime would drop pretty quickly. No, not necessarily. And I'm not one who says we shouldn't incarcerate. It's not good enough. Incarceration is not good enough. No, I understand what you're saying. What I'm saying, though, is that I don't trust the government. And that means when the government wrongfully convicts somebody, they get it wrong. When you take that person's life, there's no remedial course for that person.

[00:20:02] They can't get out of jail at any point in the future. Right? So, and if you want to expand when you're saying just violent crime, I don't know what types of crimes you're talking about. Would that be like a manslaughter crime? Like somebody's driving... Rates, murders, things like that. Well, that's what I'm asking specifically about, like, the kinds of crimes that result in a death. People get charged with, say, a manslaughter charge or something, or negligent homicide, something like that.

[00:20:32] Is that a death penalty offense to no appeals? Of course. Okay, so if you're driving down the road, and you end up killing somebody in a car accident, and now you're going to get put to death. It was intentional, yes. No, no, negligent. No, no, no, I said negligent homicide. So negligence.

[00:20:54] Well, it has to be a person that, and his goal is to kill or to hurt somebody so badly that, you know, like a regular molestation. Or if you kill somebody, and that's your goal, to kill them. Not that I'm going to drop my car and accidentally kill somebody. Right, so North Carolina technically still does have the death penalty. It hasn't been carried out in, what, 30 years or something. And that's for the first degree murder. So there is a category of crime that is still, that does still apply to.

[00:21:25] It doesn't work. Right, but not second, but not second degree murder. Not, right? So the lower, the lower charges, those are not capital offenses. Look, man, violent crimes are getting through the roof. You got guns in schools to protect kids. That's insane. Now you want to protect parks. There's a problem. Wait, so your idea in order to protect kids in schools is not to allow teachers to conceal carry,

[00:21:54] but it is to kill more people that get charged. You're missing my point. Why are there, why do we need guns in schools now? We didn't 40 years ago. What happened in the past? Oh, well, that's a cultural thing. Our society puts a very low value on life. It is a corrosion of our cultural... Unless you're a criminal. No, it's... Unless you're a criminal. There's been... You have the right to decide how you can put to death if you get the death penalty.

[00:22:24] It's got to be humane. Right. Because I didn't give my victims their choice how they want to die. Right. So you're now... Hang on. So now you're... Hang on, Steve. You're now bringing up a different point of discussion. If you're... Your initial comments were talking about guns in schools and then getting criminals off the streets. So I'm trying to figure out what the... Right. I'm trying to figure out what it is that... What the premise is because I feel like there are some things that aren't... Like these ideas that you've got are not completely...

[00:22:53] They're not fully formed. Okay. I understand like you want to see a reduction in the violent crime. Right. You want to see a reduction in violent crime. And if you're asking as to why the society has the violent crime... Now, I can bring up violent crime data and the violent crime, this may surprise you, is actually lower now than it was in the 90s. It's lower now than it was in the 80s and the 70s.

[00:23:21] So violent crime has actually declined in America. So why are we having guns on greenways in the schools then? Because that would indicate it's increasing. Not necessarily. Not necessarily. I mean, if you have a crime that gets more attention, gets more news coverage, and more people know about it now than, say, 100 years ago, because the media didn't exist as it does now.

[00:23:43] We know way more about every single criminal activity because of media, because the information is now more available. But a comparison of the crime data shows that long-term, the violent crime is dropping. Now, when it comes to the targets of schools, particularly, as you're saying, right, the targeting of the schools, that requires, I would submit, a different kind of approach.

[00:24:09] Because you're talking about a very, very tiny fraction of all violent crime that occurs in a school like that. Versus the majority of, like, gun deaths. Like, the majority of gun deaths are suicides. And then the next grouping is street crime and domestic violence. Like, those are your top three. So those all require different approaches. The school crime, violent crime, school shootings, that's very, very low. Mass shootings, very, very low.

[00:24:40] As part of the overall data set. And so one of the ways that I would submit you go about preventing the school shootings is you harden the target. You allow more people who wish to voluntarily conceal carry. You allow them to do so. And you have the police officers in the schools. And there are things that you can do specifically to protect those schools.

[00:25:03] But if you're asking why people are now targeting those schools, that gets to a cultural thing in our society at present that did not exist before. And I would submit at the root of it is the degradation of the value of life. Is that we don't, we're not raising people to understand the value of life.

[00:25:31] We're not raising people to understand that their life has meaning and purpose. And we are just bombarding them with negative messaging about all sorts of things. But also mainly about, I think, their place in the society and the meaning of their life. And so when you don't feel like there's any meaning to any life, it becomes much easier to throw your own away and to take others.

[00:25:54] I find it unusual that a lot of the school shooters are known to exist by cops before they do it. Yeah, no, it's, yeah. That's an issue. There's all kinds of issues. But still, there's so many violent criminals that are released from prison and commit violent criminals again. Yes, that's right. But if you say that there's less violent crimes in the 90s, then what are we talking about for then?

[00:26:19] Because we're allowed, because the premise of the topic was based off of the Senate Bill 50, the freedom to carry North Carolina bill, the constitutional carry, to allow people to not have to go through the concealed carry permit process in order to conceal carry their firearms. So do you agree with that bill? On the topic. Sorry, do you agree? Do you agree with the, do you agree with the bill? Do you think that's a good idea?

[00:26:49] That concealed weapons, people should be able to carry a concealed weapon? Yeah, if you, if you, if you pass your background check when you buy your, your, your pistol, then you are allowed to, to carry it and it doesn't have to be open. It could be under a jacket or, you know, in your waistband or something. You can conceal carry. And you don't need a separate permit. That makes sense. If you, but then again, if you pass your, if you, if you, if you want.

[00:27:18] If you're a burgeoning killer and you don't have a history of murder, you can get a weapon in and go out and kill people. Cause you got it on you all the time. But we're going to kill anyone. People just, there's weapons all over the place. We don't even know about. So why not? Well, if you pass a background check, shower the weapon. Right. All right. Why not? Well, there you go. So Senate bill 50 is, uh, it's making its way through the legislature right now. Steve, I do appreciate the call. Have a great weekend, sir. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know, I try to keep up with all sorts of current events. And I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources.

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[00:28:36] Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground news as they make the media landscape more transparent. Got a message on Twitter. It's a Pete tweet from app patriot girl who says, as far as concealed carry on the greenway goes, it's better to ask forgiveness than be dead. Yeah. So that's yeah. That is definitely one approach is to just, you know, conceal carry and nobody knows.

[00:29:02] And then if, you know, you ended up needing to defend yourself, deal with the repercussions after that. But at least you're alive to do so. Mark says, I used to ride my bike on the greenway nearly every day. And I have seen police on the greenway on foot, on motorcycles and on four by fours. Not every day, but often. So that's good to know.

[00:29:26] And Jonathan writes to Pete at the Pete calendar show dot com that Vermont has had permitless carry forever and it does not cause a problem there. Um, the bill, according to the bill sponsor, uh, Danny Britt and, uh, Warren Daniel and Eddie Settle. They're all senators in the U and the, sorry, the state Senate.

[00:29:52] They said, this is the next step in creating a freer North Carolina law abiding citizens deserve to exercise their second amendment rights without government interference. It is time for North Carolina to join the ranks of the 29 other states that have constitutional carry. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast.

[00:30:21] So if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to the Pete calendar show dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening and, uh, don't break anything while I'm gone.