6th County in North Carolina Passes Second Amendment Preservation Act

Local action on defending the Second Amendment is passing through many cities, towns, and counties across the country. In one state, the Second Amendment Preservation Act is sweeping through the counties like wild fire. In North Carolina many counties have passed acts the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Currently Cherokee, Beaufort, Lenoir, Pitt and Franklin Counties have all passed this act. Now, the sixth county to pass this act is Moore County.

In a Moore County Memorandum,

“In light of recent events, popular discussion and national debate it is proposed that the Moore County Board of Commissioners publicly restate their commitment to both the North Carolina and United States Constitutions and, particularly, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment to the United States’ Constitution states that “[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.” Article I, Section 30 of the North Carolina State Constitution reads, “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.” Each of the Moore County Board of Commissioners has sworn by solemn oath to uphold both the North Carolina and United States Constitutions.”

The Memorandum finalizes the decision,

“NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Moore County Board of Commissioners supports the right of the people to keep and bear arms as set forth in the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 30 of the North Carolina State Constitution.”

This local action doesn’t nullify federal infringement on the Second Amendment, but it pushes the bar another step towards it by reasserting the principle that it’s the role of even your local government to be involved in such issues. According to the FayObserver, The Chairman had concerns about fully nullifying in regards to the local law enforcement.

Commissioners Chairman Nick Picerno said after the meeting that commissioners consulted with law enforcement officials, who said passing the Beaufort County resolution might keep them from doing their jobs. Law enforcement officers might not be able to enforce a prohibition on felons having concealed weapons under the resolution, he said. “We didn’t want to interfere with law enforcement in any way,” Picerno said.”

State action nullifying federal laws are important to shield the state from federal infringements. However nullifying on a small level like cities, towns, municipalities, reservations, counties, and regions is important because that is where the majority of law enforcement.

According to the Bureau of Justice in 2008,

“Local police departments make up more than two-thirds of the 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies in the United States. A local police department is a general purpose law enforcement agency, other than a sheriff’s office, that is operated by a unit of local government such as a town, city, township, or county. Tribal police are classified as local police in Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data collections.”

That means, about 12,000 of the 18,000 is local law enforcement, while only 6000 police officers are State Police. Passing Second Amendment Preservations act in your locality is extremely important. If more local governments pass Second Amendment Preservations Acts, then it makes it difficult for the feds to implement any gun restrictions, bans, or any other unconstitutional acts through local governments.

Action Items

If you are North Carolina resident, please join the North Carolina Tenth Amendment Center Facebook page here.

If you want to introduce the Second Amendment Preservation Act in your locality, please visit the Model Legislation page on the Tenth Amendment Center’s website here.