We urge you to support Rep. Bill Cook's N. C. Firearms Freedom Act | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Rep. Bill Cook is one of the sponsors of HB 241. The bill is currently in the Judiciary Subcommittee A. It needs to be passed and we would urge our readers who support the Second Amendment to let Rep. Cook know you support him and then seek the support of any other legislators you may know.

    Here's why.

    There is a move in Washington to, in effect, abolish American's right to own firearms but a clandestine back door approach of giving the United Nations the power to control the import of firearms across international borders. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton support that move. The problem is that it would then give the UN the power to effectively make it impossible to possess firearms because they could make it virtually impossible to purchase a firearm. Even if a distributor could import the firearms they would likely be too expensive simply because the UN proposes to restrict the supply and that will drive the cost up.

    Rep. Cook and other legislators who support the Second Amendment rights of Americans have a solution. It is HB 241. Essentially what it does is establish as a matter of law that firearms actually produced in North Carolina could not be regulated by the Federal government unless those weapons were shipped across state lines. Thus, if the market ever becomes so restricted that North Carolinians could not obtain weapons from outside the state then manufacturers could make them in the state and sell them within the state without Federal regulation.

    Another significant issue underlies HB 241. It is the issue of Federalism. It sends a clear message to the Federal government that it cannot regulate goods that do not actually cross state lines. This then becomes a way that the Federal government's power to regulated Interstate Commerce might be curtailed.

    We urge all of our readers to express you appreciation to Rep. Cook and to express your support for HB 241.