Crowd in Kannapolis rallies for gun rights

Reporter - Tim Reaves

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Almost 200 people came to a town hall meeting in Kannapolis on Thursday night to voice support for gun rights and to oppose federal gun-control legislation.

The event was organized by We the People N.C. Inc., a Concord-based conservative group promoting limited government and free markets, and featured Eighth U.S. District Congressman Richard Hudson, former N.C. State Rep. Glen Bradley and representatives from Grassroots N.C., a gun rights organization.

WTPNC president Ronnie Long said the purpose of the meeting was to educate the public on the Second Amendment as an inalienable right to get people involved in politics.

“We have to work at a local level, a grassroots level … to be able to overcome a lot of the pressure that’s coming down,” he said. “If we can get people involved here locally, then we’re going to have the opportunity to make some changes.”

WTPNC works to get people in touch with representatives on all levels to tell them they don’t want any encroachment on their Second Amendment rights, he said. “We firmly support the Second Amendment, the Constitution, in every way.”

Constitutional lecturer Scott Cumbie gave an overview of the philosophy underpinning the gun rights movement.

“Our rights are not granted to us by government, by the First or Second Amendment,” he emphasized. “They are given to us by God. And that is so important to grasp.”

He showed a graph plotting the amount of freedom and the amount of government, saying a certain amount of government is necessary to ensure freedom, but any more is detrimental to it.

He said the pinnacle of the graph, where freedom is greatest, is what the Founding Fathers envisioned in their Constitutional Republican form of government.

“A constitution defines the powers of a government -- and its limits,” he said. “Any time the federal government steps beyond those limited, enumerated powers, it is grabbing power. And that is called tyranny.”

“What’s happened over time is we’ve moved to the left, and we continue to the left every year,” he added.

Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Paul Hunt was there to tell attendees his office supports their gun rights.

The Sheriff’s Office is “a very strong believer in the Second Amendment, as we are in the Constitution itself,” Hunt said. “It’s what this country was founded on, it’s what we believe in and we don’t want anybody to take that away from us.”

Eighth U.S. District Congressman Richard Hudson said he has gotten more than 1,000 letters in support of the Second Amendment since he was sworn in on Jan. 3.

“We have a right in the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms, and I’m just not going to support anything that infringes on that,” he told the crowd. “I understand why there are some people who don’t know better [who] might think it’s reasonable to ban scary guns.”

He said he agrees with President Obama there should be a national dialogue on the causes of mass shootings, but gun bans don’t work, and public policy should focus on mental health issues.

“These kids who took these guns and shot other kids are broken human beings,” he said, referring to the numerous mass shootings in the past 20 years. “We can do a better job identifying these young people.”

He said policy should focus on mental health, how programs lump together people with substance abuse and people with developmental disabilities with people with schizophrenia.

“We need to take a serious look at this,” he said.

During a question-and-answer session, Hudson told one audience member he isn’t sure where the new gun control legislation is going.

“If the Senate moves a bill, then there’s going be a lot of pressure to bring it up in the House,” he said. “I don’t know for sure where we stand. That’s why I don’t feel comfortable enough telling y’all to go home and everything will be all right.”

Another attendee said violence in movies and games is part of the problem.

Hudson agreed.

“There are people who are more susceptible to that than others,” he said.

Long told attendees there will be a rally held in Raleigh on Feb. 5, which is being organized by Grassroots N.C.

The rally will take place at noon on Halifax Mall between the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh, according to the organization’s website.