It's perplexing, but North Carolina Democrats are up in arms over a recent Republican-led bill that rolled back an actual racist law that has been on the state's book since 1919.
According to the Daily Caller, a "Jim Crow" era law that everyone understood was intended to keep Black residents from owning firearms was repealed by North Carolina Republicans this week.
While repealing the law should have been celebrated, unfortunately, the left decided it was a bad thing.
A review of the bill, before Republicans voted to repeal it, found that it was, in fact, designed to circumvent the Constitution and block minorities from possessing firearms at the time.
The Daily Caller noted:
The bill, SB 41, would repeal the state’s pistol purchase permit requirement that tasks local sheriffs with ensuring residents have “good moral character” before they are issued a firearm. The law, established in 1919, was intended to circumvent the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, which required that gun control laws be racially neutral, according to attorney and historian options in the North Carolina Law Review.
North Carolina and other states circumvented the Consitution by passing a law noting that only “special deputies," known to be code for white men, to possess firearms.
A review of the bill noted: "Overall, despite the North Carolina permit system appearing racially neutral on its face, when taken in context with the actions of surrounding states and the attitudes regarding minorities at the time of enactment, the permit system’s intention was to keep minorities from possessing handguns."
"North Carolina’s current pistol permit system — enacted in 1919 — is a direct result of Jim Crow policies that empowered white authorities to curtail handgun access to African Americans in the state." https://t.co/bn8hiGDguW
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) February 17, 2022
In addition to the new legislation repealing the old, extremely racist law, it will also allow for concealed-carry in North Carolina churches.
In recent years, a number of mass shootings have taken place in or around churches around the country, likely because the shooters understand that such sanctuaries are "soft" targets. That will no longer be the case in many North Carolina houses of worship.
Instead of celebrating the removal of what was clearly a ridiculously racist law from the past, Democrats slammed state Republicans, claiming it will lead to more gun violence.
"This bill is about making our communities less safe and has absolutely nothing to do with racial equality,” Democratic State Sen. Natalie Murdock said, according to local media. "It will in fact make Black communities less safe."
Democratic state Rep. Pricey Harrison added, "There’s so much more we could be doing about keeping our communities safe. But unleashing and letting access to guns to individuals who absolutely pose a danger to themselves and others is a real problem."
While Democrats are quick to label something as innocuous as a syrup bottle as "racist," it's incredible that they can't take a break from their race-baiting to celebrate what is clearly a move in the right direction.
