Articles Posted in Guns/Firearms

The Charlotte Observer recently published a report by the New York Times about the rise in the number of concealed carry permits. The report recounts an incident where an Asheville, North Carolina man had a hair-raising experience with the driver of an SUV.

Alan Simmons and his family were riding bicycles down the road when they were approached by a driver in an SUV. The driver was visibly upset with Simmons because he was riding his bike in the street. Simmons stopped and so did the driver. The two got into a verbal altercation, but the driver of the SUV, Charles Diez, pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot Simmons. When Simmons turned to leave, Diez fired, but the bullet passed through his helmet barely missing his head.

Diez was legally allowed to carry that weapon. He was licensed to carry a concealed weapon and Simmons believes that that is the reason why a verbal altercation nearly turned deadly. Diez was eventually arrested and he pled guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The problem is not with the number of permits that are now being allowed across the country. The problem is the ease with which one can obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. North Carolina is one of many states that only requires a simple background check before allowing someone to obtain a concealed carry permit.

In addition to the ease of obtaining the permit, gun advocates are seeking to increase the places where guns are allowed. In the recent past, guns have been taken off of the banned list for bars, houses of worship, and college campuses. The argument in favor of increasing the presence of guns in public places is that gun owners should be allowed to protect themselves when they are out and about.

“These are people who have proven themselves to be among the most responsible and safe members of our community,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida. Rep. Stearns wrote a bill that would require states to recognize other state’s gun permits, extending the Full Faith and Credit Clause to gun permits. The House has already approved the bill and the Senate is expected to consider it next year.

The New York Times conducted an investigation into North Carolina’s concealed weapons permit holders. The investigation revealed that several of North Carolina’s permit holders had been convicted of felonies or misdemeanors. In several of these cases, the state did not pull the gun permit from those convicted.

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According to a recent news report by WRAL, police in Fayetteville are searching for two armed suspects who opened fire in a crowded shopping mall. Shoppers had already begun to arrive in anticipation of Black Friday’s massive retail discounts when the shooting began. Police say that one of the suspects fired the first shots around 2 a.m. near the entrance to the food court at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, North Carolina. One individual ran inside the mall, followed by another armed man when the second suspect fired a second round of shots outside of the Macy’s Department Store.

Police say that no one with injuries checked into the local hospital, Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. Although no one was injured by the gunfire, the incident caused panic and chaos throughout the crowded shopping mall. Shoppers were frightened and many of them left the Cross Creek Mall to continue their Black Friday shopping in a less gunfire prone location.

Some shoppers reported people being trampled in the melee as the terrified shoppers tried to find a place of safety. One shopper was reported as saying, “People were running and they were yelling. . . Our first instinct was to hide, to get away from the situation.” That, however, did not seem to stop the holiday shopping spirit and Black Friday buying quickly resumed after the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department restored order at the mall.

The shooting at the Cross Creek Mall was not the only episode of violence that erupted this weekend among eager Black Friday shoppers. There were several reported incidents across the country where overzealous shoppers resorted to unsavory tactics to take advantage of Black Friday’s retail discounts. In Los Angeles, California a woman allegedly pepper-sprayed her fellow shoppers as she was attempting to securer X-Box gaming consoles on sale at a local Wal-Mart. There was also an incident in Kingston, North Carolina where a security guard was forced to use his pepper spray to bring order to an unruly crowd.

If and when the suspects in the Cross Creek Mall incident are captured, they may face several possible state and federal charges. If either suspect has been previously convicted of a felony, they come under the jurisdiction of the Felony Firearms Act in North Carolina which prohibits felony offenders from buying, owning, or possessing firearms. There are also federal firearms statutes that apply to felony offenders who are found in possession of handguns and other firearms. Both of these laws may apply simultaneously (because the federal and state governments are independent sovereigns), increasing the likelihood that these gunmen will face several years behind bars.

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