In 1969, North Carolina passed a series of statutes that were known as the North Carolina Riot Control Act of 1969. Collectively the laws prohibited the possession, transportation and even sale of firearms during declared states of emergency. Given North Carolina’s geographic location along the eastern seaboard, declarations of emergency are regularly declared in response to hurricanes. In fact, from 2004 until June, 2010 when the case was filed, over a dozen such declarations had been invoked, including a January 10, 2010 order, Executive Order 47 which declared a state of emergency throughout the entire state for up to thirty days. As a result, the individual plaintiffs, along with members of both Second Amendment Foundation and Grass Roots North Carolina were regularly subjected to severe restrictions on their right to keep and bear arms.
The Second Amendment Foundation, joined by 3 individuals and North Carolina state group Grass Roots North Carolina brought suit, arguing that the bans violated the Second Amendment as applied to its members, and the individual plaintiffs in the case. In a March 2012 Opinion, Judge Malcolm J. Howard of the Eastern District of North Carolina agreed, granting SAF’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and declaring the North Carolina statutes unconstitutional.
Case Team: Alan Gura, Andrew Tripp, Kearns Davis, Wes J. Camden
Case Documents
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Case Media