North Carolina town calls snow emergency, so gun sales are banned…huh?

What a go King, NC.

The snow emergency is over in King, N.C., but while it was in effect, according to published reports and a cursory glance at state statute, there was a curfew, restrictions on alcohol and a ban on the sale or possession of firearms off of one’s property.
When I called officials in King, the police department referred me to the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office referred me to state statute. I don’t know what they call that in North Carolina, but out here in Washington, it’s called “passing the buck,” and that dog don’t hunt.
The inquiry was simple, and the conversation with a lady named Judy at the police department was pleasant. All I wanted to know was “What on earth does a snow emergency have to do with possession of a firearm?”
Only in Washington, D.C. do guns seem to come into play when people play in the snow, but then it’s only the cops who seem to pull those guns.

§ 14-288.7. Transporting dangerous weapon or substance during emergency; possessing off premises; exceptions.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for any person to transport or possess off his own premises any dangerous weapon or substance in any area:

(1) In which a declared state of emergency exists; or

(2) Within the immediate vicinity of which a riot is occurring.

(b) This section does not apply to persons exempted from the provisions of G.S. 14-269 with respect to any activities lawfully engaged in while carrying out their duties.

(c) Any person who violates any provision of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1969, c. 869, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 192; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

The mayor, it appears, did not have any discretion when the emergency was declared over a heavy snowfall late last week. The ban on transporting dangerous weapon(s) or substance(s) during an emergency is detailed under North Carolina statute 14-288.7, which appears to have been adopted originally in 1969.
This little emergency situation was significant enough to earn a mention on the Drudge Report, and it ought to raise eyebrows anywhere people remember the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now, there was an emergency, and its aftermath was detailed by authors Gordon Hutchinson and Todd Masson in The Great New Orleans Gun Grab.
Emergencies are periods when private citizens may need a firearm the most, although the snow situation in King hardly seems the sort of thing one would call an emergency. Of course, that comes from a guy who lives in the mountains of Washington State, where heavy snowfall is an occasional inconvenience but not an emergency (unless you live in Seattle, perhaps, but that’s another story). State statutes that enable government to suspend a fundamental constitutional right during a genuine emergency need serious revision.
One source in King said the community is not used to this kind of a snow event, and not prepared for it. People were without power all weekend. That’s unfortunate, but out here we make the best of it with wood stoves and generators; we don’t suspend firearms rights.

 

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