Category Archives: jocoboco

With All Due Respect, GRNC Gets It Wrong, Re: Johnston County Commissioner Devan Barbour

GRNC put out an alert, yesterday, updating members on the results of the meeting I described two days ago here. GRNC seems to think we should thank Devan Barbour for proposing the removal of the portion of the ordinance mentioning firearms. I have to respectfully disagree. The decision had already been made. Word is that one of the commissioners even called into the Morning Rush on WRDU to talk about the ordinance and said that they did decide to remove the firearms portion. Having Devan Barbour, the only one up for re-election, propose removing that section during the meeting was a cynical move to try to placate gun owners so that we would go away.

As I said a year and half ago:

And just so you understand where we stand in this negotiation, let me say this. We have come here because, metaphorically speaking, someone has threatened to cut off our right leg. We have to wonder if the hope was that we would settle for, oh, say, just giving up our left foot. Let me straighten out this potential misperception. We were threatened, metaphorically speaking, with amputation. Our position is that we are changing the starting point of this negotiation. We’ve come, metaphorically speaking, for both legs of those who are proposing this ordinance. And our hope is that everyone leaves with all of their limbs in tact. Metaphorically.

The same applies this time. And as I shouted out during one absurd comment from Attorney David Mills that this was “not about guns,” “Do you think we are stupid?!”

This alert was posted to the NC Gun Owners forum. My response, copied here for convenience:

As has been discussed here, I think, but definitely elsewhere, we owe no such thanks at all to Devan Barbour. He voted in lock step with the other five present commissioners in August on the unmodified ordinance. And the ordinance that passed is still egregious as it is still far too vague and will likely snare residents safely shooting on their own property. What’s ‘unreasonably loud’ for a gunshot? To a d*mn-yankee (I is one, but an *assimilated* one) who is anti-gun, *any* gunshot is unreasonably loud, because, gosh darn it, he shouldn’t be shootin’ guns on his property! It’s scares him due to his lack of familiarity with *American* tradition. And that’s what this is about. These complainers (regardless of what you think of Whitlock) would complain if Whitlock had safe bullet containment and used a suppressor (which, of course, is an extra $500+ for a trust, since our illustrious Sheriff refuses to sign off on the required ATF form). This entire ordinance should have been nixed, period. Barbour made his proposal because he is up for re-election.

It boggles my mind that Mills had the audacity to suggest that there were only a few narrow types of shooting (self-defense, varmint dispatching, etc.) that are covered by the 2nd Amendment. Who the h*ll does he think he is? What makes anyone think that making marksmanship training harder for those who don’t have the money join a range and travel to a range on a regular basis isn’t a violation of the 2nd Amendment. And I don’t even hear any gun rights groups harping on that. It’s not only an infringement, it’s just plain dumb to acknowledge the right to keep and bear arms, but make it potentially criminal to practice without spending a lot of money. It’s a city-boy mentality that thinks you just buy a gun, throw it in your closet or sock drawer and not use it for target practice in your safe, private, backyard range, but only for self defense or varmint dispatching. Where is Mills from, anyhow? Did he grow up in JoCo, or is he from some big city? I’m bettin’ the later. It would also be interesting to see if any remuneration he gets comes from Bloomy’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, like the staff member in the Mayor’s office in Orlando, FL.

The only real victory we had here, and it is a significant one, is that we got their attention, and if my perception was correct, Barbour, Mims, and Attorney Mills all had tremors in their voices. We scared them, I think. And that is a good and valuable thing. Evidence of a properly functioning government. Almost, anyhow, as they still display stark arrogance (particularly Mims and Mills).

Now, we need to keep the pressure on and a few JoCo gun owners need to attend, EVERY SINGLE MEETING, maybe taking the open comments period at the beginning to propose repealing the noise ordinance altogether. Let them know we are watching them closely. We need to go on the offensive, here, because what do you think will happen when this almost-bill-of-attainder doesn’t work and they can’t get Whitlock to stop under the ordinance? They will come back for more. *Unless* we are constantly badgering them in the other direction. Otherwise we are in react mode which is always imperfect, as we can see from this result.

And in 2014, give them a re-election battle they’ll never forget. We need a plan to have as many people as possible run against them. I don’t know what it takes, but surely we’ve got people on this forum and elsewhere who could help with that.

And now there is word from an anonymous source within the county government that JoCoBoCo “have talked with the community college about forming a public shooting range to ward off the drama that is now before us.” Well, I have a message for the Board: too little, too late. Oh, and the drama? You brought this on yourselves. You think this will make us go away and leave you alone to rule over us the way you see fit? You’ve got another thing coming.

As Knitebane says the response we are now getting wind of is exactly what we should be seeing. The commissioners should be trembling in their boots whenever they even think about mentioning firearm rules.

Elsewhere, I added:

Right now, they need to be babysat. I suggest several of us go to the October meeting with, as a starter issue, a proposal to move all Board of Commissioners and other public board meetings (such as the planning board) to a location where carrying a concealed handgun is not prohibited and/or a proposal to repeal the ban on carrying concealed handguns in county buildings *and* a prohibition on any county agency from instituting their own ban.

If we get the predictable reaction of arrogance from Mims and company, we remind them that this will affect the decisions of many Johnston County citizens on November 6th.

To the Johnston County Board of Commissioners, and Alan Mims and Devan Barbour in particular, I say this: We are not going away. Deal.

Stay Dangerous, My Friends.