Recent Additions

This from Human Target Special #1 p.30 - 1991 with art by Rick Burchett and  Dick Giordano

This is from World of Smallville #1 p. 11 with art by Kurt Schaffenburger and Alfred Alcala.

This from Battron #3 p. 20 with art by Wayne Vansant.

I met Mr. Vansant at the Charlotte HeroesCon. He is known for his work on Marvel's The Nam and a host of other military and historical titles. Oh, and he was a very friendly fellow. 

Just Because...

Reality Vs. Media

Bill Gates Posts Data Of Causes Of Death In The US, Is Amazed By The Disconnect Between News And Reality

So, Mr. Gates, why don't you push that money you give to the gun control groups to research on cancer and heart disease?
Of course, John Richardson beat him to it.

It's What They Do...

Lie.

No, Cory Booker, There Isn't a Study Showing That Licensing Gun Owners Cuts Gun Violence by 40 Percent

...but there will be if the Decrocrats get their way on government funding of "gun violence" research.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

NRA TV is dead because of a couple angry teenagers with Twitter. Never underestimate the power of some “kids” with goals.

— Lauren Hogg (@lauren_hoggs) June 26, 2019

In your dreams you silly arrogant child and that's more polite than you or your brother deserve.

H/T to John R.

Tamara on the Democrat Debates

Island of Misfit Toys...

Probably more accurate than calling them the Democrat Clown Car.

This would have been a blast...

...but the project died when Disney acquired Fox. Mouse Guard is a comic written and drawn by David Petersen.The project was expensive, a risk, and not based on a superhero comic. Shame Really.

UPDATE: Looks like Disney pulled the video. Why does that not surprise me?

Current Events

I'd Call This a Win

Congress writes vague laws and leaves to the regulators to interpret the law. Out of that we get abuses of the Gun Control Act via the BATF. Hopefully this is a step toward forcing Congress to do their job.

GRNC Alert: Time to Repeal Pistol Purchase Permits

Jim Crow is alive and well in North Carolina in it's pistol permitting system. Jim Crow is evil accept when it profits the  North Carolina Sheriff's Association and gun control groups. Recently, North Carolina Sheriff's Association brought the matter to the fore again when it tried to slip some language into a Church Security bill that would have  shifted our concealed carry laws from "shall issue" to "may issue" by including a "good moral conduct" requirement to the concealed carry permit while at the same time padding their pockets. North Carolina Sheriffs have always had a wide latitude to deny pistol permits.The system was designed in the early 30's so Sheriffs could keep guns out of the hands of undesirables, i. e. African-Americans, immigrants, and Republicans. The African- Americans are the  Jim Crow part. 

It's long time this relic of our racist past was done away with. Call or email your representative and let them know how you stand on this issue. The tools to do so are noted below.

A RACIST LAW NEEDS TO END

The latest round of shenanigans by the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association and our state legislature leave no doubt that the only proper course of action is to put North Carolina's racist Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permitting in the trash bin.

Enacted during the Jim Crow era as a way to prevent African Americans from purchasing handguns, North Carolina's pistol purchase permit system has long been sold as a "public safety measure," when it is anything but. Not only did it give sheriffs wide latitude to deny someone the right to purchase a handgun, but it also creates a dangerous safety loophole that allow criminals to circumvent point-of-sale background checks.

The right to keep and bear arms can never be subject to the whims of elected officials, and Grass Roots North Carolina has worked tirelessly to ensure that the permitting process (like the concealed handgun permitting process) remains "shall issue" (meaning that a sheriff can not arbitrarily deny a permit.) The well-funded anti-freedom movement has worked hard to perpetuate this racism under the auspices of "public safety," and it's now clear that the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association pays the same lip service to the second amendment as does the proliferation of Bloomberg-funded anti-gun astroturf groups.

Here's the irony: the pistol purchase permits create a massive loophole for criminals to purchase firearms through legitimate channels of commerce. A pistol purchase permit is good for 5 years, and there is absolutely no mechanism in place through which a permit can be revoked if the bearer becomes, for instance, a convicted felon. The permit allows the purchaser to completely circumvent the NICS FBI background check normally done at the point of sale.

A racist law that makes us less safe ... one has to wonder why some politicians and the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association keep supporting this terrible legislation. Is it the profit motive for the sheriffs? Is it the mere desire for control? Do these groups want criminals to get guns?

Isn't it time that our politicians and the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association speak up and tell us the truth?

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

• POINT: Send an email to the Republican members of the NC Senate letting them know exactly how you feel about the Pistol Purchase Permit.
  
  
• PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated.

CONTACT INFO

John.Alexander@ncleg.net; Ted.Alexander@ncleg.net; Deanna.Ballard@ncleg.net; Phil.Berger@ncleg.net; Dan.Bishop@ncleg.net; Danny.Britt@ncleg.net; Harry.Brown@ncleg.net; Jim.Burgin@ncleg.net; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net; Jim.Davis@ncleg.net; Chuck.Edwards@ncleg.net; Carl.Ford@ncleg.net; Eddie.Gallimore@ncleg.net; Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net; Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net; Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net; Rick.Horner@ncleg.net; Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net; Todd.Johnson@ncleg.net; Joyce.Krawiec@ncleg.net; Tom.McInnis@ncleg.net; Paul.Newton@ncleg.net; Jim.Perry@ncleg.net; Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net; Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net; Vickie.Sawyer@ncleg.net; Bob.Steinburg@ncleg.net; Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net; Andy.Wells@ncleg.net

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "Repeal NC's Racist Jim Crow Pistol Purchase Permit NOW!"  

---

Dear Senators:

I write this letter to you today to demand that you work to repeal North Carolina's racist, Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permitting system.

The pistol purchase permit system provides criminals with a dangerous loophole: since there is no mechanism for a Sheriff to revoke a pistol purchase permit, someone could be convicted of a felony and still circumvent the NICS background check with a pistol purchase permit in hand. Furthermore, we have seen how deeply-pocketed special interests like Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun organizations and the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association will try to further their elitist agenda with the same capriciousness that Jim Crow-era sheriffs used the pistol purchase permitting process to deny African Americans the right to keep and bear arms.

North Carolina is no place for dangerous, racist legislation like this, and the people of this state deserve nothing less than a full repeal of this Jim Crow law.

I will be monitoring your actions on this issue closely through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

Copyright Info

© 2018 Grass Roots North Carolina. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution is permitted provided full attribution is given and the item is reprinted in its entirety. Address questions to: President@GRNC.org


H/T to John R.

Good Advice on Gun Safety

7 Sins of Firearm Safety

MIX: Meisei Story

I've noted before that I watch a lot of anime. The newest on my list is MIX. It is a story about two brothers, their sister and High School baseball. It has a nice dry sense of humor that appeals to me. The intro featuring the song Equal by Sumika is posted below followed by a concert version. Good stuff.

Do They Truly Understand...

...Trump ain't Obama?

More Winning

Supreme Court ruling on intent under the Gun Control Act

This one applies to more than gun rights. The Feds have to prove intent in serious regulatory violations. Here a guy overstayed his VISA and unbeknownst to him became a prohibited person. The Feds charged him for possession of a firearm and didn't care that he didin't know he was prohibited. Now they have to.

A Win for the Good Guys

Can California Ban Gun Shows From Public Fairgrounds?

A District Court Judge says, "No".. We'll see if it sticks.

H/T to David Hardy

Can't Argue With That

What A Moron: Joe Biden Is Getting His Gun Control Agenda From James Bond

H/T to David Hardy

Help If You Can

Arrest Shows NY Authorities Rather Home Owners be Disarmed than Defended

Ronald Stolarczyk shot two intruders in the State of New York using an unregistered handgun he had inherited from his deceased father. In the State of New York that makes Stolarczyk the criminal. If convicted he faces as much as four years in prison. There is a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his defense. Help if you can.

History Repeating?

Bill Whittle: Revenge of the Right: Why Break Up YouTube, Google and Facebook

GRNC Alert: Senate Republicans to Gut Concealed Carry

Our GOP friends in the North Carolina Legislature are at it again. I guess it is considered being pro law enforcement to give the North Carolina Sheriff's Association whatever it wants even if it screws gun owners. Now they are trying to change our concealed carry laws from shall issue to may issue be allowing Sheriff's to deny a permit based on a lack of good moral character.

The term is defines as whatever the Sheriff or his political masters wish it to be. Read the GRNC Alert below and take appropriate action.

 Senate Republicans to Gut Concealed Carry

SHERIFFS GRAB POWER TO DENY PERMITS

This is not a drill, and this is not a joke. Republicans in Raleigh are in the process of gutting NC’s “shall issue” concealed carry permit application structure...

Regarding concealed carry permit (CHP) applications, we are furious (yes, furious ) to be forced to announce that the Republicans you sent to Raleigh have snuck language into the Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) of a bill that would, in essence, transform North Carolina from a “SHALL ISSUE” state into a “MAY ISSUE” state.

We at GRNC are incensed and you ought to be as well. As you know, GRNC engineered NC's "shall issue" concealed carry law in 1995. Since then, GRNC has been instrumental in greatly improving it with restaurant carry, limited school/campus carry and more. We're not about to stand by and watch a naked power grab by NC's sheriffs, aided by Republican senators, roll back all of our progress.

Are You of “Good Moral Character?”
Last week, in Raleigh, Republicans snuck new language into a PCS for Senate Bill S90("Protect Religious Meeting Places") (=H110), and it’s worth noting that, initially, S90 was not even written to deal with the concealed carry application process. It’s also worth noting that before the poisonous PCS, S90 was a promising pro-gun bill.

Yet, the PCS language strips “shall issue” status from the people and confers “may issue” power to your county sheriff. According to the PCS, a sheriff can deny CHPs by claiming applicants are not of “Good Moral Character,” the same shameful Jim Crow-era language that still exists on Pistol Purchase Permit applications, which GRNC has been fighting to eliminate.

And you’ve probably guessed already: there is no strict definition for “good moral character,” and truly, no definition would suffice in this context anyway. Therefore (and conveniently), lacking “good moral character,” grounds for denying a CHP, is an open-ended label that any sheriff could attach to any applicant for any reason.

Shifting Power from Citizen to Sheriff
Lest you wonder, “good moral character” has nothing to do with an applicant’s criminal history. Exhaustive, indeed intrusive, criminal and medical background checks, and (de facto) long waiting periods are already part of the CHP application process. The sheriff’s personal, subjective and nebulous analysis of your character can have no legitimate purpose. The only clear purpose of this language in S90’s PCS is to take power away from you, the law-abiding citizen, and hand it to your county sheriff to lord over you, so he can withhold your rights at will.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Sheriffs would never use this new power to deny permits to qualified people.” Yet, if they’d never use their newfound power, why enshrine it in our state’s laws? It can have only one purpose, and if there is no intention to use it (now or later), it would not have been proposed as substitute language for S90.

What You Can Do
Are you prepared to live in a state that treats gun rights the way California does—like “gun privileges?” Are you ready to cede your Natural rights to your county’s sheriff, so he can ration them back to you as he sees fit? If not, please join other gun rights supporters in putting an immediate halt to this attack on your gun rights (from the Republicans no less!). Once again, we must remind these politicians who “brung ‘em” to the dance, and it looks like we’ll have to be more stern than usual.

Below, see how you can easily contact Senate Judiciary Committee members (and Sen. Berger) to tell them, emphatically, that any vote, indeed any support whatsoever, for S90’s Proposed Committee Substitute will be considered a severe and blatant anti-gun action!  

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

• EMAIL MEMBERS OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Use the copy/paste email list provided below and the copy/paste text provided under ‘Deliver This Message.  

• PHONE REPUBLICAN LEADERS & YOUR SENATOR: This is serious and so phone calls to committee chairs and to your own senator are just as important as sending an email message. Please use the phone numbers provided below to contact Judiciary Committee leaders. Also, please call your own senator (find contact details below). When you reach each senator's office, tell him or her:
  I am a gun rights voter, and I am enraged that Republicans are seeking to force a huge step backwards for gun rights in our state. The ostensibly pro-gun party should be ashamed to be identified as the party that introduced Senate Bill 90's PCS language, which would grant "may issue" power to sheriffs for Concealed Carry Permits, stripping citizens of the unalienable portion of unalienable rights. Any Senator supporting this PCS will be considered anti-gun, and will pay at the polls. Thank you.

• ATTEND TUESDAY'S COMMITTEE HEARING: The presence of gun rights voters at this meeting is critical. Committee members must know that we see what they're trying to do, and that we're serious about stopping them. Please attend Tuesday's committee meeting. You may have an opportunity to speak, so arrive early in case you need to sign up. Find details below.
• PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated. 
  

NC Senate Judiciary Committee, Copy/Paste Email List:
Dan.Bishop@ncleg.net; Dan.Blue@ncleg.net; Danny.Britt@ncleg.net; Harry.Brown@ncleg.net; Jim.Burgin@ncleg.net; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net; Jim.Davis@ncleg.net; Toby.Fitch@ncleg.net; Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net; Rick.Horner@ncleg.net; Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net; Jeff.Jackson@ncleg.net; Natasha.Marcus@ncleg.net; Mujtaba.Mohammed@ncleg.net; Paul.Newton@ncleg.net;Terry.VanDuyn@ncleg.net; Phil.Berger@ncleg.net

Senate Member	Phone
Senator Danny Britt, Jr. Senate Judiciary Committee Co-chair	(919) 733-5651
Senator Warren Daniel Senate Judiciary Committee Co-chair	(919) 715-7823
Senator Phil Berger Senate President Pro Tempore	(919) 733-5708
Please call your senator, too. Need name/contact information? Click Here and select the 'NC Senate' option to find your senator.

Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee Attend to Stop the Gutting of Concealed Carry
WHEN:	Tuesday, June 18, 2019, 10:00 am
WHERE:	NCGA Legislative Building Room 1124/1224 16 West Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27601
IMPORTANT NOTES:	Please arrive early to allow extra time to park and to get through building security.
	Please dress for the press. Business attire preferred. Please no inflammatory slogans on clothing or otherwise.
	Please bring a roll-up paper sign with the following message on it: "SENATOR BERGER: DON'T GUT CONCEALED CARRY"

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: "Don’t Gut Concealed Carry"

---

Dear Senator:

I have just learned of the Republican Party’s effort to transform North Carolina’s concealed carry permit (CHP) application structure from “shall issue” to “may issue.” I see that Republican senators have snuck language into S90’s Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) that would grant sheriffs unchecked power to deny concealed carry permits to any applicant, any time, for effectively any reason. The PCS’s language, which poisons an otherwise pro-gun bill, allows a sheriff to declare that an applicant, any applicant, is not of “good moral character.” This is the same shameful Jim Crow-era language that still exists on the Pistol Purchase Permit application, language that ought to be removed (not added elsewhere).

Of course, “good moral character” has no particular definition, nor would any be satisfactory given the context. Exhaustive and intrusive background checks and (de facto) long waiting periods are already part of the CHP application process. The sheriff’s personal, subjective and nebulous analysis of an applicant’s “character” has precisely zero legitimacy. Clearly, its only purpose is to wrest power from the law-abiding citizen and hand it to our county sheriffs to lord over the citizens, so sheriffs can withhold Natural rights by fiat.

This is unacceptable! I am incensed that the members of the Republican Party would even consider such an anti-gun scheme. North Carolina is not California, it is not New York, and gun voters will not allow this state to transform into one of these states in the context of the recognition of the Second Amendment.

Be warned:
Any favorable vote, even the slightest measure of support for S90’s PCS, with its “good moral character” clause, will be perceived as a threat to every gun rights voter in this state, myself included. Do not doubt it, backing S90’s PCS will be recorded as an extreme anti-gun action!

Put a stop to S90’s anti-gun PCS now. I will be monitoring your actions on this critical matter through alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina

Respectfully,

Copyright Info

© 2019 Grass Roots North Carolina. All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution is permitted provided full attribution is given and the item is reprinted in its entirety. Address questions to: President@GRNC.org

Looking in a Mirror

How I Spent My Saturday

HeroesCon 2019 in Charlotte North Carolina.

I went looking for art, prints, autographs and to see my favorite Comic Artist Stan Sakai of Usagi Yojimbo fame. I had a grand time and I'll post more images as I get stuff scanned. I will say this about Mr. Sakai. He is extremely friendly and a gentleman. He and his wife are very nice people.

I also met with Michael Golden, Ron Randell, Joe Staton, Pablos Marcos, Don Rosa, Wayne Van Sant, Georges Jeanty, and many others. I had a grand time.

A Win for the Good Guys

The Second Amendment Foundation has posted yet another victory in Illinois, as the Second District Appellate Court has dismissed an attempt by the Village of Deerfield to challenge a permanent injunction against the community’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.”

Recently Read

The Gordian Protocol by David Weber and Jacob Holo

Weber has a new collaborator in Jacob Holo. The result doesn't read as smooth as his work with previous collaborators but it is still an enjoyable romp. We get time travel, alternate universes, and space ba...battles between armed time machines. If you like David Weber, you will like this book. I did. Recommended.

Noah's Boy by Sarah Hoyt

The last in Hoyt's Shifter trilogy left me wanting more. Hoyt is a very good writer that I would like to see get more attention than I expect she does. She writes across all genres: sci fi, fantasy, mystery, romance. Go buy her books and read them, and then recommend to them to your friends. Go. Now. what are you waiting for.

Bill Whittle: Tomophobia and Timing Belts

Good Advice. I should follow it.

Nice Op-Ed on Mass Shootings

PRAGER: Why So Many Mass Shootings? Ask The Right Questions And You Might Find Out

"Nuff Said

X-Men: Dark Phoenix {2019]

Why is it so damn hard for Hollywood to adapt a property in the spirit of the original material. Oh, right, self-absorbed assholes. As a result we get crap adaptations like X-Men: The Last Stand and Dark Phoenix. I read Claremont's and Bryne's Dark Phoenix Saga in the late 70's. Even with Jim Shooter's interference with the ending, we got the story that arc that most embodied the X-Men. Great story, beautiful art, character arcs you wouldn't believe, with an emotional kick in the stomach at the end of the story. None of which we get in either movie. Both are crap adaptions. The makers picked out the bits that interested them and ignored the pieces that made the original story special. The Last Stand was and is a crap movie. Dark Phoenix was a crap adaptation, but as a movie it was okay. It was certainly better than X-Men: Apocalypse. It is not a waste of money unless you have any affection for the work by Claremont and Byrne. If you do, stay away.

Seventy-Five Years Ago Today...

Thirty Years Ago Today...

It's Animated

CGI is animation.

A Win in Pennsylvania...

You Cannot be Stopped for Carrying a Gun in PA

...the Ugly

Blood Dancing

Bernie Sanders Blasts NRA, Calls for Gun Control After VA Beach Shooting

Democrat Reps. Push Gun Control Before Virginia Beach Details Known

Virginia Beach Councilman Calls for Further Gun Restrictions Throughout State

It's What He Does...

Barack Obama Is Lying about America’s Gun Laws Again

‘Gun laws in the United States don’t make much sense. Anybody can buy any weapon, anytime without, you know, without much if any regulation. They can buy over the Internet. They can buy machine guns.’

I just bought a stripped AR lower today that I ordered over the internet from Palmetto State Armory for a really good price. They couldn't ship it to my address. They shipped to a nearby gun shop I designated. I had to drive to the store, present my identification and undergo and pass a NICS background check before I could pay the transfer fee and take it home. That experience proves the lie to every point made by our former President except the last. Buying a machine gun is expensive with a level of regulation designed to place them outside the reach of most gun owners. What our former President is actually talking about are semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15. They are not machine guns and he knows it. He calls them that to push an agenda...gun control.