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Said Grass Roots North Carolina president Paul Valone:
“Grass Roots North Carolina will sue Sheriff Baker and Wake County as many times as it takes to ensure that handgun permits are reliably issued to North Carolina citizens in compliance with their civil rights and North Carolina law.
“Furthermore, under a ‘Monell claim,’ Sheriff Baker, because he is currently under a consent decree requiring him to issue handgun permits, is unilaterally and unlawfully making public policy by his continued refusal to issue permits in a timely fashion as stipulated in G.S. §14-404(f). Accordingly, his actions could create legal liability not only for the sheriff, but for Wake County, which has a duty to relieve Baker from office if he insists on violating the law.”
What Baker said
GRNC contacted the attorney for Sheriff Gerald Baker, Nick Ellis of Poyner Spruill, LLC, to inform him that despite being under a consent order, Baker continues to drag his feet on issuance of both pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits. After our press release last week, complaints flooded the GRNC office of purchase permits taking nearly two months to process, despite the fact that the statute listed above requires purchase permits to be issued or denied in 14 days, further stipulating that permits may only be denied for statutorily permissible reasons.
First, Ellis tried to dodge, asking GRNC for the names of complainants. We played this game the last time, when Baker issued permits to the litigant in Stafford v. Baker and to one other potential litigant, and then continued to thumb his nose at other applicants. Not this time. We have instead demanded that to avoid litigation, Baker instead respond with exactly how he will change procedures to issue permits in a timely fashion.
Instead of complying, Baker and his lawyer complained of the number of applications being submitted during the current national civil unrest, claiming the sheriff is doing an “excellent job” in issuing permits. When it was pointed out that the statute requires permits be issued in 14 days, Baker’s attorney responded: “…the 14 days doesn’t start until ALL of the information needed to process an application has been provided or obtained.”
Since Baker is putting applicants in nearly permanent limbo to come into the office to finish the application they started online, Baker’s response is essentially: “The 14 days required for applications doesn’t start until we give you an appointment to let you finish the application, which we won’t. So bug off.”
Wake County is complicit in Baker’s malfeasance:
Said Grass Roots North Carolina president Paul Valone:
“Grass Roots North Carolina will sue Sheriff Baker and Wake County as many times as it takes to ensure that handgun permits are reliably issued to North Carolina citizens in compliance with their civil rights and North Carolina law.
“Furthermore, under a ‘Monell claim,’ Sheriff Baker, because he is currently under a consent decree requiring him to issue handgun permits, is unilaterally and unlawfully making public policy by his continued refusal to issue permits in a timely fashion as stipulated in G.S. §14-404(f). Accordingly, his actions could create legal liability not only for the sheriff, but for Wake County, which has a duty to relieve Baker from office if he insists on violating the law.”
What Baker said
GRNC contacted the attorney for Sheriff Gerald Baker, Nick Ellis of Poyner Spruill, LLC, to inform him that despite being under a consent order, Baker continues to drag his feet on issuance of both pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits. After our press release last week, complaints flooded the GRNC office of purchase permits taking nearly two months to process, despite the fact that the statute listed above requires purchase permits to be issued or denied in 14 days, further stipulating that permits may only be denied for statutorily permissible reasons.
First, Ellis tried to dodge, asking GRNC for the names of complainants. We played this game the last time, when Baker issued permits to the litigant in Stafford v. Baker and to one other potential litigant, and then continued to thumb his nose at other applicants. Not this time. We have instead demanded that to avoid litigation, Baker instead respond with exactly how he will change procedures to issue permits in a timely fashion.
Instead of complying, Baker and his lawyer complained of the number of applications being submitted during the current national civil unrest, claiming the sheriff is doing an “excellent job” in issuing permits. When it was pointed out that the statute requires permits be issued in 14 days, Baker’s attorney responded: “…the 14 days doesn’t start until ALL of the information needed to process an application has been provided or obtained.”
Since Baker is putting applicants in nearly permanent limbo to come into the office to finish the application they started online, Baker’s response is essentially: “The 14 days required for applications doesn’t start until we give you an appointment to let you finish the application, which we won’t. So bug off.”
Wake County is complicit in Baker’s malfeasance:
- Wake County is obligated to remove Baker: Under G.S. §128-16, the county is essentially required to begin proceedings in Superior Court, with the county attorney acting as prosecutors for, among other things, “willful or habitual neglect or refusal to perform the duties of his office.”
- Citizens’ constitutional rights are being violated: It is unlawful for citizens to buy handguns without either a pistol purchase permit or concealed handgun permit from their county of residence, meaning that Baker’s actions are denying citizens’ rights not only to keep and bear arms, but to protect their families at a time of national crisis when personal safety is very much in question.
- Wake County is responsible: Under these circumstances, the Supreme Court, in Monell v. Department of Social Services, determined that the county can be held liable for the misdeeds of Baker, whether or not they officially sanction those misdeeds.
