The Implicit Laws of North Carolina

Last week, A North Carolina newspaper editor made a request for publicly available records of local concealed carry permit applications. The local sheriff Keith Lovin, who is legally obligated to provide those records, denied the request and posted the letter of request on facebook. This lead to public outrage, not for the law violation, but for the request of public information. Several days later and after numerous death threats to the editor, the newspaper retracted its request and issued a profuse apology. Furthermore,  this editor, a last patron of a dying industry, has now resigned and plans to leave the state because of the ferocious hatred he has received. Full details of the story are available here.

In a period of increased gun violence, dialog, and sensitivity (or arguably insensitivity), this level of outrage against a law abiding citizen is absurd. Instead of using this request to highlight what they see as an invasion of privacy and potentially creating a movement  to correct a state law they disagree with, they attacked the media, the one actor who could actually help publicize such a movement.  Furthermore, the lack of outrage or even acknowledgement of the sheriff’s violation is appalling. Our rights exist because the rule of law prevails. If we subjugate one law in order to protect another, then we have created a new set of standards with no guidelines for enforcement. I support the second amendment, but I also support the first amendment at its freedom of the press, for without the first, we will have no idea of when the second is actually being threatened. These implicit laws of North Carolina highlight the problems with single issue voting and lobbying, and reinforce the need for a well informed citizenry.