In S 679’s third reading on the Senate floor, Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird (D – Orange) sought to make a vocal argument against the bill by reading out of a terrorist handbook. S 679 Castle Doctrine/Amend Firearms Laws is a bill intending to primarily provide North Carolinians with an improved Castle Doctrine, allowing citizens greater rights when using force to defend themselves or others. However, Kinnaird apparently viewed it as an attempt by the gun lobby to aid terrorists by providing them a legal route to purchase weapons.
In session, she stated what amounted to: “In a terrorist handbook found in Afghanistan it mentions in one jihad strategy for terrorists to buy assault rifles legally in America.” She then further explained how thousands of people on the terrorist watch-list have legally bought firearms under a loophole in federal law and stipulated that the only reason this law has not been amended is because the gun lobby strongly opposes it.
Now, the whole terrorist watch-list issue aside, Senator Kinnaird has apparently mistaken the use of firearms for self-defense and carrying a firearm with the purchase various firearms, because there is not a single provision in S 679 about the regulation of firearm purchasing and ownership. S 679’s various provisions only regard self defense, the ability to carry a concealed firearm, and locations firearms can be carried.
Furthermore, by asserting that her primary reason for opposing the bill was for a provision regarding assault rifles that does not exist, Kinnaird seems to imply that normal, law abiding U.S. citizens who chose to purchase firearms such as assault rifles are equivalent to terrorists. Indeed, Kinnaird seems to have made up provisions for the bill in order to condemn the bill and to anyone who purchases a firearm in order to decrease the attractiveness of the bill.
Dear Civitas – that was the last of my speeches on the floor against the proliferation of guns in our state. Of course it wasn’t in refernce to that paticular bill. My earlier speeches gave the statistics for suicides, accidents and homicides, which should be alarming. One of my earlier speeches quoted the number of crimes committed using guns bought in NC and in paticular one shop in Charlotte that has sold the most guns used in crimes in the U.S. And of course, I started with the number of gun deaths (not counting sucides and accidents) in the U.S. compared to other countries. I will gladly send the statistics to you. Maybe some day you will understand the devastation we are wreading in the country, especially in our poor, minority neighborhoods. Violent deaths are the leading cause of death for African American Youth. But since it doesn’t touch the white, middle class, there is little interest. However, they are at the greatest risk for suicide. Ellie Kinnaird
At least Ellie stands for something. Unfortunately, what she stands for is the abrogation of individual liberties. To advance that agenda, she has rarely passed up an opportunity to torture statistics, one particular example being the use of gun tracing statistics to vilify the Charlotte gun dealer she describes.
She probably doesn’t name the gun dealer because she would end up on the receiving end of a lawsuit, the reason being, of course, that gun tracing statistics are not reliable indicators of guns used in crimes. From the Congressional Record to the FBI, everybody seems to know that except gun ban advocates. She also neglects to mention that the shop in question is one of the largest in the state and has been in business for decades. Wouldn’t one expect a huge and successful car dealer to have more of the products it sells involved in accidents than a smaller dealer?
Face it, Ellie: Gun control advocates are waging a losing battle because the American public has finally awakened to the reality that **gun control doesn’t work.**
Dear Senator Kinnaird,
By mentioning the quip about terrorists purchasing firearms in your speech and then going on to state “we [S 679] are simply adding to this problem,” you inadvertently link terrorism to legal firearm owners and their right to defend themselves from harm. This is a horribly offensive comparison to the vast majority of firearm owners who are law abiding citizens and use their firearms in a completely legal manner.
The fact remains that your comments were irrelevant to the bill. The Castle Doctrine and other parts of the bill are intended to expand the rights of individuals to carry and use weapons for self defense. This bill does not increase the availability of firearms, nor does it promote the sale of firearms to terrorists. In fact, it seeks to encourage law abiding citizens to defend themselves from those who seek to break laws and violate the rights of others. By allowing a populace to defend itself, we dissuade and prevent those who seek to harm us from acting.
And I would very much like to see your statistics and their sources—especially the percentage that are gang-on-gang shootings and crimes committed by legal firearm owners. I would like to compare the numbers to the number of defensive firearm uses.