NC Senator Bill Cook in Session | Eastern North Carolina Now

For Immediate Release:

    Session is in full swing here at the General Assembly. I thought you might like to have an idea of what a typical week is like for me.

    Monday, I arrive in Raleigh late morning in time for any meetings that have been called. Session begins at 6:30 PM.

    Tuesday, I hit the ground running early in the morning. My first committee meeting begins at 8:30, but it is not unusual for me to have a 7:00 meeting to attend. Then, it's committee meetings back-to-back until lunch time. Session begins after lunch and runs as long as it needs to. Right now we're usually done mid-to-late afternoon, but as we progress I expect we will meet into the evening and twilight hours.

    My schedule Wednesday and Thursday is similar to Tuesday, but I don't usually have quite as many committee meetings in the morning. Whenever I'm not in a committee meeting, I am usually meeting with my constituents, various organizations, or other members.

    Thursday afternoon or evening, I start the 2 hour drive home. Friday and Saturday at home means meetings with constituents and organization's representatives.

    There are many long days, but there is great satisfaction in helping the folks of North Carolina achieve a better life. Service to your fellow human being is indeed a worthy and rewarding activity.

    One of the ways I am serving you right now is by fighting to defend the 2nd Amendment. I have received a couple hundred emails from you urging me to stand strong and not allow your rights to be trampled on. This is an issue I feel strongly about. Last month, I talked with the Beaufort Observer about gun rights, particularly in light of the Sandy Hook tragedy. I have excerpted some of that conversation below. To read the full article, please visit this link.

    On banning weapons: "I don't think it will work to try to ban guns...Bad folks can always get a gun. Gun laws only restrict the honest, law-abiding people and do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and nut cases."

    On "Gun Free Zones": "I strongly favor eliminating the 'Gun Free Zones'. These zones do not work. They have worked only to make our schools defenseless against criminals and deranged people who ignore the law."

    What about banning certain assault weapons? "That's a joke. It is not the design of the weapon that is the problem. It's the person with the weapon."

    "I worked for the Castle Doctrine because I think it is an expression of one of our most sacred rights: The right of self-defense...I wish there weren't evil people in the world who comment atrocities like Sandy Hook, Columbine, Virginia Tech. and others but there are such people. However, as I see it, we only have two ways to stop them. One is to identify them early and put them where they cannot hurt anyone. And the other way is to stop them as quickly as possible with deadly force."

    I mentioned in my last newsletter that I cosponsored S27, which allows for School Marshalls. I recently spoke with the Daily Advance about this legislation. If you have a subscription to the Daily Advance, you can read the article in its entirety here. I have excerpted some of the article below.

    State Sen. Bill Cook has co-sponsored a bill to allow teachers and others to be trained as gun-carrying "school marshals" but is considering introducing an alternative measure that would eliminate the "marshal" concept while allowing some teachers to have guns at school.

    Senate Bill 27 would allow teachers, but also school employees or other people selected by the local board of education, to be deemed "school marshals" and to carry firearms on school property. The bill would require training in firearms, including crisis situation training, and certification by the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. ...

    Although Cook co-sponsored Bingham's bill, he says he's not entirely happy with it in its present form and might introduce his own bill as an alternative. In particular, Cook doesn't like the bill's use of the term "marshal," which he said could lead to the creation of "another bureaucracy" and "create another expense on the state."...

    If he does introduce a separate bill, Cook said it will allow teachers and other school employees who already are concealed-carry permit holders and have received additional firearms training -- including the crisis situation required under SB 27 -- to bring guns to school. The bill would require school officials to lock their weapons in an approved area that they could access in the event of an emergency, he said. ...

    "I believe that the only way to stop someone using deadly force is with deadly force," Cook said. "It's unfortunate, but that's true." ...

    So far this session, I have cosponsored 12 bills, most recently including S50 "Discharged Veterans/Identity Theft Protection" and S76 "Domestic Energy Jobs Act."

    If you know a high school student interested in learning more about our state government and how it operates, please have them contact our office about the week-long Senate Page Program. The program is filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Many weeks are still open through the end of June. Please contact us for the application as soon as possible for the best chance of receiving appointment to your desired week of service.

    My office contact information is shown below. If you like my newsletter, share it with your friends. If not, let me know and you will be removed from our distribution list.

    Mailing Address: 300 N. Salisbury Street, Room 525 Raleigh, NC 27603 Phone: (919) 715-8293    Email: cookla@ncleg.net or bill.cook@ncleg.net