NCGA: Pittman steps up for gun owners, stands up to DC | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Brant Clifton uses the words of others, in part, to remind us that some statist will compromise our freedoms for their benefit in his "bare knuckles" Conservative online publication known as The Daily Haymaker.

    State Rep. Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus) has introduced a bill that ought to get some tongues wagging:

    An act to provide that no state or local official, agent, or employee shall knowingly and willfully order another state or local official, agent, or employee to enforce a federal law upon a personal firearm, firearm accessory, or ammunition, unless complying with a court order; to repeal the prohibition against carrying a concealed weapon and make various conforming changes; to retain the concealed handgun permit for the convenience of reciprocity when traveling in other states and to make the purchase of a firearm more efficient; and to prohibit health care providers from questioning competent patients about lawful activity related to firearms and ammunition.[...]

    Pittman's bill protects state officials from being bulled into enforcing federal laws that appear to violate Section 30 of Article I of the North Carolina constitution:

    Sec. 30. Militia and the right to bear arms.

    A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they shall not be maintained, and the military shall be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing herein shall justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons, or prevent the General Assembly from enacting penal statutes against that practice.

    The bill assesses penalties against health care workers or physicians who interrogate patients about firearms and / or ammunition in their home (unless it has a direct bearing on the treatment being administered). It had been speculated that ObamaCare would require doctors to start quizzing their patients about firearms in their homes. National pediatrician groups have been strongly advocating that their member physicians conduct these types of interrogations.

    The bill also clarifies state laws and regulations regarding possession of firearms. Localities are still allowed to restrict where firearms can be carried. But it is not unlawful for a lawfully-permitted person to possess a firearm in his or her car (such as a gun rack) on property where the weapons are banned.

    The Pittman bill clarifies the rules regarding concealed weapons. Off-duty cops, as well as off-duty probation and parole officers, are allowed to carry them as long as they are not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.