Free Republic

Airline travel suppression. Why not have the same-day ability to buy an airline ticket and hop on board a plane minutes afterward - even with a college-issued id? What about one-stop purchasing of airline tickets? How about even no id required to purchase an airline ticket? To stop terrorists from hopping on board a plane? Hmmm. Didn't one of the Tsaernaev brothers go to an area near Russia, engage in activities that alarmed the Russians, they alert the U.S., and yet he flies back here nonetheless? Scrap all of the security measures because its just one guy? Stupid (even though...

Sen. Kay Hagan is asking Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to take action against the new voting law in her home state of North Carolina. The North Carolina Democrat wants the Justice Department to review a measure signed into law Monday by Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican. Hagan is seeking re-election to the Senate in 2014. “Protecting the fundamental right of our citizens to vote should be among the federal government’s highest priorities,” Hagan wrote. “In response to voting restrictions signed into law yesterday, I strongly encourage the Justice Department to immediately review North Carolina House Bill 589 and...

RALEIGH — A tenant in a student apartment complex in West Raleigh shot and killed an armed intruder early Saturday, police said. Vincent Reed Bellamy, 23, told police the intruder broke into his apartment and held a handgun to his face. Bellamy was able to retrieve his own handgun and shot the man, who was identified as Trevor Anders Herne, 35.

For supporters of the repeal of North Carolina’s estate tax, the passage serves as a big neon "come on home" message to ultra-wealthy individuals who have kept a primary residence in another state to avoid the tax. "A tax that affects somewhere between a dozen and 100 families each year in a state with 9 million-plus people is fundamentally unfair," said Dallas Woodhouse, the director of the N.C. chapter of the conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity. For opponents, the repeal – retroactive to Jan. 1 – serves as a prime example of conservative legislators favoring the wealthy few over...

For decades, the closest most people got to a gun suppressor – those metal cylinders that reduce a gun’s bang – was seeing one on a movie screen in the hands of an assassin or gangster. **SNIP** Suppressors are heavily regulated by the federal government. People trying to buy them have to apply to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and pass a background check, according to U.S. law. They also have to pay a federal tax payment of $200 and get approval from the county sheriff. On Tuesday, North Carolina sheriffs were discussing the ramifications of the...

Raleigh, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory signed 18 bills Monday, including two of the more controversial of the recently ended legislative session – those dealing with gun rights and abortion clinics. **SNIP** The gun rights law, expands the places where those with legal permits can carry a concealed firearm to include bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, although they are not supposed to consume alcohol. It also allows permit holders to keep firearms locked in their car when parked on college or public school campuses. The measure seals gun purchase and permit records, so that lists compiled by law by...

Shew said that after Ms. Brower was told that she could get water from a hose attached to a spigot on the outside of the Newman house, she and two men forced their way into the house. He said the two men were later identified as Colin Smith, 18, of 117 South Holden Road in Greensboro and Don Delevicchio Thompson, 36, of Raleigh. Shew said he was told that Robert Monroe Newman, holding a gun, came down a hallway in the house and an exchange of several rounds of gunfire followed. He said that in addition to Robert Monroe Newman...

(Winston-Salem Journal) — Student government associations from 11 of the 17 schools in the University of North Carolina system announced their opposition Wednesday morning to House Bill 937 in a proclamation sent to members of the N.C. General Assembly. The bill, which would allow concealed-carry permit holders to keep firearms in locked vehicles on college campuses, is currently in conference committee. The proclamation was signed by the student body presidents at Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, North Carolina Central University, UNC Asheville, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC School of the Arts, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina...

On July 9, the New York Times editorial page portentously announced “The Decline of North Carolina.” The editors warned that ever since last November, when Republicans won the governor’s mansion and both legislative houses for the first time since Reconstruction, the government of the Tar Heel state has become “a demolition derby, tearing down years of progress in public education, tax policy, racial equality in the courtroom and access to the ballot.” The Times patiently explained that Republican leaders have been very, very naughty for proposing income-tax cuts and a ban on sex-selective abortions, repealing the tendentiously named Racial Justice...

A tractor pulling a cart full of watermelons bearing a racially charged sign stirred controversy at a small town Fourth of July parade last week. ‘White history month,’ was emblazoned on the side of farmer Donnie Spell’s float in a Hope Mills, North Carolina parade Thursday. The sign also read ‘HUG WTE PPL.’ And as is chugged along the parade route waving a Confederate Flag, many residents took offense to the racial implications. Hope Mills Director of Parks and Recreation Kenny Bullock oversaw the parade entries. He told WNCN there was no mention of the signs on Spell’s float application....

Charlotte, NC - On July 4, father and head of household Uriel Alberto sat in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement office here to partake in a hunger strike against his scheduled deportation on July 17. The hunger strike was temporarily suspended for him to join his family and friends in Winston-Salem who demonstrated against his deportation, but will return to Charlotte on July 8 to continue his hunger strike. What started off as a simple demonstration against reactionary anti-immigration policies, turned into a year-long struggle against Uriel Alberto’s ICE-enforced deportation process. In Raleigh, on Feb. 29, 2012, immigrant rights...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police said a man was charged after a shooting that left a teenager dead and a toddler wounded. Kashif Antoine Lang, 19, is accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Jashun Ladonte Ingram at Lang’s home at 4144 Macarthur Street around 2:15 p.m. Monday. Police said Ingram and several others were involved in a disturbance with Lang and others in the home. Police said Ingram and his group were breaking home’s windows and trying to get inside at the time of the shooting. Winston-Salem police said Ingram was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency workers and...

Bucking the liberal, knee-jerk trend to restrict the rights of gun owners in other states, the North Carolina General Assembly is on the verge of passing an omnibus Concealed Carry bill (HB937) that only gets better as lawmakers work on it. Unfortunately, the North Carolina Sheriffs Association (NCSA) opposes the bill because of a single provision: the repeal of our pistol purchase permit system.The pistol purchase permit system is a hold-over from the Jim Crow era. The idea of emancipated blacks arming themselves against the white majority was scary to many in power. Southern Democrats and their segregationist allies could...

The North Carolina Senate took the House-passed HB 937 and made a good gun reform bill into a near great one. The North Carolina Sheriffs' Association in now balking on passage of the bill due to the elimination of the archaic and racist pistol purchase permit system run out of each county's sheriffs' department. As the alert below from Grass Roots North Carolina makes clear, what they really object to is a loss of power and a loss of revenue. News stories about the recent shooting in Greenville, North Carolina are now trumpeting that the Pitt County Sheriffs' Department...

Raleigh, N.C. — As part of ongoing effort to get Congress to pass "common-sense gun laws," supporters of Mayors Against Illegal Guns rallied in downtown Raleigh's Moore Square Saturday to call for lawmakers to strengthen the country's background check system. The group, a coalition of more than 900 mayors from across the country, is conducting a 100-day bus tour that began following a June 14 ceremony that marked the six-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis was one of 20 first graders slain in the Dec. 14, 2012 rampage...

SALISBURY — Authorities say a Salisbury man caught his neighbor in the act of stealing his truck and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived. Tuesday morning, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office got a call from James Lambert. He said he was holding someone at gunpoint who had tried to steal his truck. Lambert told deputies he was in his house on Hildebran Road when he heard the truck start up. He said he ran out of the house with a pistol and saw Richard Lee Wright III, 19, also of Hildebran Road, in the driver’s seat of his 1993...

ATLANTIC BEACH, NC (WECT) – Divers trying to recover cannons from Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge wreck site off the coast of North Carolina were successful in their efforts Thursday. Bad weather forced the team to scrub the previous two trips, but the conditions were just right the third time around. A group from Cape Fear Community College used inflation bags to float two cannons to the surface. This is the first time the cannons have been out of the water in almost 300 years. According to David Hardin with CFCC, the cannons are estimated to weigh 2,000 pounds...

 Sheriffs' opposition could sink restaurant/campus carry and other initiatives!  The North Carolina Sheriffs' Association (NCSA) is pressuring both House Speaker Thom Tillis (R, Mecklenburg, GRNC ****)  and NC Governor Pat McCrory (R, GRNC-***) to oppose GRNC's repeal of the antiquated pistol purchase permit system that has been in place since 1919. As part of omnibus gun bill HB 937, which contains restaurant and limited campus carry, the purchase permit law would be repealed IF the House votes to concur with Senate improvements to the bill and IF Gov. McCrory doesn't veto it. Felons with purchase permitsThe purchase permit law...

Raleigh, N.C. — North Carolinians with concealed handgun permits would be able to carry firearms in more places – including businesses that serve alcohol, funeral processions and playgrounds – under a bill that the Senate gave tentative approval to Wednesday. The legislation is a broad measure that backers say will broaden the application of Second Amendment rights and increase penalties for certain gun crimes. "We should not fear the armed citizens protecting themselves, protecting their families ... they don't commit crimes," said Sen. Thom Goolsby, R-New Hanover.The most striking provision in the bill does away with pistol purchase permits currently required to buy a...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)-  As recently reported, your NRA is aggressively working to pass a comprehensive right-to-carry reform bill, House Bill 937. H 937 contains numerous pro-gun provisions, including a section to repeal the antiquated permit-to-purchase requirement for anyone who wishes to purchase a handgun in North Carolina.  However, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is apparently circulating a letter to legislators that urges them to remove this section from H 937. H 937 is currently being considered by the state Senate, so it is critical you contact your state Senator IMMEDIATELY and urge her or him to oppose efforts of the...

Phote Credit: Oleg VolkThe North Carolina Senate has passed a reform bill that moves the state closer toward constitutional carry. The reform bill eliminates the permit required to purchase a handgun that was implemeted in the Jim Crow era as a means to keep black people disarmed. It eliminates a number of "gun-free" zones that have been found to be attractive to mass killers. Concealed carry permit holders would be able to store firearms in a locked car on school property. The bill strengthens state preemption of local gun laws. Private property rights are respected, as owners are allowed to...

**SNIP** During this week's protest, Congressman G.K. Butterfield showed up to support the effort. "We are here today to express our views," Butterfield said. "This is the way we petition our government and we're going to so it very forcefully, not only today but every Monday going forward until we are heard." Asked directly about a newspaper column from a state senator Thom Goolsby, who called the effort "Moron Monday," Butterfield said, "That's a poor choice of words. We have the same thing in Washington with congressmen making statements that are mean spirited. I would hope that this representative would...

With the signature of Governor Pat McCrory on May 30, 2013, North Carolina enacted Senate Bill 189, which redefines the term “home school” in state law.... the old law limited the source of instruction for children to parents, legal guardians, or a member of either household in a two-household home school, the new law provides more flexibility and options for families to obtain instruction from other sources. The thrust of the new law is that the home school option for educating children is parent-directed, but parents and others named in the definition do not have to personally teach all of...

MARSHVILLE, N.C. -- The Union County Sheriff’s Office has identified a man shot and killed during a home invasion Thursday. Deputies say Robby Charles Blount, 25, broke into a home in the 3400 block of Lanesboro Road in Marshville around 1 a.m. The residents shot and killed Blount when he allegedly forced his way in the house with a small handgun. Blount ran from the house but collapsed in the yard, where he died. Investigators have not said who fired the shot at Blount. No one has been charged.

Are government officials upset that someone can survive without them? Thirty years ago, Eustace Conway bought 100 acres in North Carolina with a vision of a self-sufficient, simpler life style. Turtle Island Preserve became his home and livelihood, with income earned by teaching eager groups self-dependence using nothing but the land and their wits. He lives simply without the need for a single government subsidy, program, or hand out. The now 1000 acre settlement is a working, educational farm, with every building and facility made from materials and often forgotten skills once utilized by our pioneering ancestors. This lost art...

Primitive N.C. retreat a bit too primitive for Watauga officials Watauga County mountain man Eustace Conway’s passion for teaching primitive living came to a sudden halt in October when local government officials shut down his operation, citing safety and health concerns. After receiving a tip that Conway had built structures without a permit, Watauga County Planning and Inspections Director Joe Furman obtained an administrative search warrant to inspect the roughly two dozen buildings and structures at Turtle Island Preserve, Conway’s 500-plus acre retreat in the mountains east of Boone. In September, Furman assembled a team of building inspectors, health department...

A man who forced his way into a Union County home early Thursday was shot and killed by an occupant of the residence, according to the sheriff’s office. Calling the case a “home invasion,” detectives say the intruder tried to escape after being shot but never made it past the front yard of the house. The incident happened shortly before 1 a.m. at a home in the 3400 block of Lanesboro Road, off Ansonville Road. That is north of Marshville, in the northeastern part of Union County. Capt. Ronnie Whitaker says someone inside the home called 911 and said an...

One of the strange things about North Carolina (and there are many) is that Durham County has a firearm registry. It’s banned everywhere else in the state, but the legislature authorized Durham to register firearms. I don’t know if anyone actually registers, but legally  you’re supposed to. Kind of like legally you’re suppose to come to a complete stop at the stop sign, but frequently you don’t. Now a Democrat NC Senator has manged to pass a bill through the House that repeals that registry, ending the only firearm registry in North Carolina. A bill put forward by Sen. Mike Woodard,...

A fourth-grade student in Henderson County (corrected since original post) received the following worksheet, which qualifies as an “informational text” under the Common Core State Standards:

By an overwhelming two-to-one vote of 76-38, the North Carolina state House passed a bill allowing permitted concealed handguns on college campuses.  As with other states, private universities will be allowed to post signs that ban permitted concealed handguns.  Disappointingly, it would also not allow concealed handguns in classes, which means it would ban guns to and from student's cars.  With 44 Democrats in the state House, not even all the Democrats voted against the bill.  From WRAL television: State House lawmakers voted late Monday night to allow concealed weapons on college campuses, state property, greenways, bike trails, at sporting...

RALEIGH — The historians, doctors, preachers, lawyers, raging grannies, students and others gathered around the second-floor fountain inside the Legislative Building and belted out “This Little Light of Mine” and other songs. They were diverse in age and backgrounds but united in voice as part of a protest movement gaining numbers in recent weeks. In the four months since North Carolina Republicans took control of both General Assembly chambers and the governor’s mansion, the lawmakers have proposed rapid and sweeping change to the state’s electoral processes, health care policies, welfare management and publicly-funded education systems. The Republicans, some who emerged...

To date, 80 North Carolina residents have squeezed their savings for the bragging right of owning the Tesla Model S electric car, some paying more than $100,000 for their g-force ride, but they may be among the last. A legislative proposal, backed by the N.C. Automobile Dealers Association, would make it illegal for Tesla, or any other car maker, to bypass dealerships and sell directly in the state. The proposal cuts at the heart of Tesla’s business model: selling luxury cars over the phone or Internet and then delivering them to the front door of high-net-worth customers. **SNIP** The whole...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. June 21 — Two brothers were convicted Friday of helping run a North Carolina-based support cell that funneled cigarette-smuggling profits to the militant group Hezbollah. Mohamad Hammoud, 28, accused of being the leader of the cell, was convicted of 16 counts that included providing material support to Hezbollah. Chawki Hammoud, 37, was found guilty of charges including cigarette smuggling, credit card fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Jurors deliberated 21 hours over three days. On Friday afternoon, they told the judge they were deadlocked on one count, a charge that Mohammad Hammoud conspired with others to provide material support...

May 3, 2013 N.C. high school student arrested for leaving shotgun in car gets scholarship to Liberty University By Katie LaPotin There is a silver lining in the story of the North Carolina high school student arrested Monday for accidentally leaving his shotgun in his locked car – he’s just earned himself a scholarship to his dream school, Liberty University.Cole Withrow was expelled from school and charged with a felony after school administrators overheard a private conversation between Withrow and his mother about the gun. According to a family friend, Withrow had gone skeet shooting the day before and forgot...

On Tuesday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes asserted that, since Republicans have taken control of the North Carolina state government, the state is moving toward becoming an "insane right-wing dystopia," and claimed that the GOP wants to engage in "voter suppression" in the state. Hayes: It's a state that, to everyone's surprise, went blue in 2008 and was narrowly carried by Mitt Romney in 2012, a state viewed by many as an emerging Democratic foothold in the South, as evidenced by the party holding their convention in Charlotte in 2012. But a state that, since the election of...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama intends to nominate Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a White House official said Tuesday. If confirmed by the Senate, Watt, D-N.C., a 20-year veteran of the House, would replace Edward DeMarco, an appointee of President George W. Bush who has been a target of housing advocates, liberal groups and Democratic lawmakers. snip The president was expected to name Watt on Wednesday, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Watt’s nomination comes...

Raleigh, N.C. — It took just 45 minutes Thursday morning for the Senate Commerce Committee to approve a massive rollback of rules and regulations meant to protect the state's environment. Senate Bill 612 would require cities and counties to repeal any rules stricter than state or federal law. It would also require a list of environmental oversight boards and agencies to repeal or rewrite any state rule stricter than federal regulation on any given matter. Those agencies include the Mining and Energy Commission, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Environmental Management Commission, the Commission for Public Health, the...

RALEIGH — The state House passed a bill Wednesday requiring voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls in 2016, after an emotionally charged debate that underscored North Carolina’s political polarization. House Republicans pushed through the measure saying that the public demanded more stringent ballot security at polling places, that voter fraud was more prevalent than is understood, and that in a modern, mobile society fewer election officials personally knew voters. “Our system of government depends upon open and honest elections,” said Rep. David Lewis, a farm equipment dealer from Dunn and a Republican. “Having people...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said they are investigating after a home intruder was shot and killed while trying to force his way into a Charlotte apartment. WBTV reported that the shooting happened around 3 a.m. Sunday at the Alta Grove apartments on Season Grove Lane in northwest Charlotte. Charlotte-Mecklenburg homicide investigators said the intruder was shot after struggling over a weapon with the man who lived there. Authorities said the apartment resident suffered a minor gunshot wound to the hand. They said a woman was also at the apartment and was not injured. Officials said the intruder was pronounced dead...

Sam Grant nearly celebrated his eighth birthday party in jail. The North Carolina boy had been charged with two felony counts of discharging his BB gun. The parents of a then-seven-year-old North Carolina boy are beyond angry after their son was charged with two felony counts of possessing a BB gun. Just moments before the child was expected to answer to the allegations before a Catawba County judge — the charges were dropped. -- But their world got rocked when the received a letter from the Department of Juvenile Justice summoning the family to court. “They told us that they...

Brown-eyed people are more likely than blue-eyed people to pack a gun in North Carolina. Much about the nearly 400,000 concealed pistol permit holders here – including their names, addresses, weights and, yes, even eye colors – is a matter of public record. But state lawmakers are trying to change that. A bill crawling through the N.C. General Assembly aims to make that information confidential, open only to law enforcement. It is one of more than a dozen measures introduced this year as lawmakers bow to long-held demands among gun rights activists. As mass shootings fuel debate about the proper...

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. — He looks like a typical 7-year-old boy, but on Tuesday night, Sam Grant is facing charges that many adults never will. He is charged with two felonies for something that happened when his mother turned her back for just a second. His parents told Eyewitness News that they're outraged. "We are both just shocked. We have been in a state of shock over this," said Ray Robbins. Sam's parents said this scenario began in February when Sam was playing outside with his BB gun. They said he began shooting at an abandoned house right across the...

MAIG is running their anti-gun “day of action” garbage today. Sadly, I didn’t know about this beforehand. Raleigh What: Candlelight Vigil Who: Gun violence survivor Kim Erickson Yaman and Jen Geurin Ferrell, founder of Forward Americans When: 6:30 PM Where: Moore Square, 200 S. Blount Street Who would like to join me counterprotesting? Sign suggestions Nanny Bloomberg should take his billions and go home to NYC If MAIG wants background checks, they should start by checking themselves! (for children) My mommy’s (or daddy’s) gun protects me Guns save Lives! I’m Pro-Choice on Self-Defense I’m on Twitter at @sdsorrentino. Send me...

ASHEVILLE — The Asheville Citizen Times is reporting that police on Wednesday charged an Asheville midwife with killing an unborn child through a mishandled delivery. Tina Louise Bailey, 44, of Craig Circle Drive, provided medical services to a woman in labor in July, according to an arrest warrant. Those included catheterization and internal obstetrical examinations, police said. Bailey also gave medical advice without the training to do so, investigators said.

FULL TITLE: Girl, 16, found dead on train tracks next to her best friend, 18, was 'in a dark place' after break-up with her girlfriend Two teenagers have been found dead side-by-side on train tracks after one of the girls was 'in a dark place' following a recent break up with her long-time girlfriend. Arielle Troutman, 16, and Hannah Rigley, 18, were found dead beneath a train on the edge of the McAlpine Creek Greenway in Charlotte, North Carolina early on Sunday morning. The train driver had seen them apparently sleeping on the track, sounded his bell and pulled his...

Angelica Velazquillo's fight for mental health care for undocumented immigrants began not in a hospital room but in a busy downtown Charlotte intersection. In September 2011, Velazquillo, then a 25-year-old undocumented woman brought to the U.S. when she was 4, joined nine protesters who blocked traffic, chanting "undocumented and unafraid." Charlotte police arrested the group, charging them with impeding traffic and disorderly conduct, offenses that sparked their deportation proceedings. Their deportations were later dropped and they were ordered to perform community service, a decision the group credited to the public interest in their case. "It was a turning point," she...

A 52-year-old county resident accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl in February 2012 accepted a plea agreement last month on the sexual abuse charge. Attorneys reached a so-called “West plea” under the condition that a doctor would evaluate the suspect to determine his level of risk as an offender – which would help the judge decide an appropriate sentence ranging from probation to eight years in state prison. Arnaldo Mateo Hernandez – also known as Arnaldo Gomez – was set for that doctor’s evaluation Thursday on the felony charge, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14. Under...

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office says a homeowner shot a suspect after he kicked in his front door. The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at 532 Hwy 14 in Landrum. Master Deputy Kevin Bobo tells 7 On Your Side, the suspect’s wife was inside the residence with the homeowner. The suspect has been identified as Dakota Hester. Authorities say he kicked in the door, assaulted his wife then proceeded upstairs. Deputies say the homeowner, Jonathan Wofford went into his bedroom and locked the door. Deputies say Hester kicked open the door and then was shot by Wofford.

As North Carolina legislators move to close public access to firearm permits, some sheriffs are already refusing to hand over the records. Following a public showdown with the sheriff in Cherokee County, a local newspaper editor quit last week after his records request – which was denied – made him the target of death threats. The county has the state’s highest rate of concealed-handgun permits. In Gaston County, Sheriff Alan Cloninger responded Friday to a newspaper’s request for gun-permit records by withholding names and addresses of permit holders.