North Dakotans - Initiative measure petition to remove public gathering restriction

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Nickotym

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Warning: lengthy post!

I am looking to get a sponsoring committee and petition circulators together for the following petition to remove the public gathering restrictions for ND CCW holders. This would allow carry in churches and schools as is allowed in many other states.

If you are willing to be on the sponsoring committee and help circulate petitions, please PM me or post in this thread. We will need 12,844 signatures to get this on the November 2008 ballot, so we have to work hard at this. The deadline is 08-05-2007. If I can get at least the 25 people for the committee, each person would be responsible for about 513 signatures. The more people circulating it, the less each person has to get. Thanks in advance for the help.

Here is the first part of the petition:

INITIATIVE PETITION
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA​
We, the undersigned, being qualified electors request the following initiated law be placed on the ballot as provided by law.
SPONSORING COMMITTEE​
The following are the names and addresses of the qualified electors of the state of North Dakota who, as the sponsoring committee for the petitioners, represent and act for the petitioners in accordance with law:

Nickotym (chair)

NDGlock(from Glocktalk)

Mrs Nickotym

Brokenbackjack

NEED 21 more sponsoring committee members.


BALLOT TITLE


FULL TEXT OF THE MEASURE​

IF MATERIAL IS UNDERSCORED, IT IS NEW MATERIAL WHICH IS BEING ADDED. IF MATERIAL IS OVERSTRUCK BY DASHES, THE MATERIAL IS BEING DELETED. IF NO MATERIAL IS UNDERSCORED OR OVERSTRUCK, THE MEASURE CONTAINS ALL NEW MATERIAL WHICH IS BEING ADDED.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF NORTH DAKOTA:​

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 62.1-02-05 of the North Dakota Century Code is amended and reenacted as follows:

62.1-02-05. Possession of a firearm at a public gathering – Penalty
Application

1. A person who possesses a firearm at a public gathering is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. For the purposes of this section, “public gathering” includes
athletic or sporting events, schools or school functions, churches or church functions, political rallies or functions, musical concerts, and individuals in publicly owned parks where hunting is not allowed by proclamation and
publicly owned or operated buildings.

2. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers; members of the armed forces of the United States or national guard, organized reserves, state defense forces, or state guard organizations, when on duty; competitors participating in organized sport shooting events; gun and antique shows; participants using blank cartridge firearms at sporting or theatrical events; any firearms carried in a temporary residence or motor vehicle; students and instructors at hunter safety classes; persons authorized to carry a concealed weapon in the state of North Dakota, according to section 62.1-04-03 of ND Century Code; or private security personnel while on duty.

3. This section does not prevent any political subdivision from enacting an
ordinance which is less restrictive than this section relating to the possession of firearms at a public gathering. Such an ordinance supersedes this section within the jurisdiction of the political subdivision.

INSTRUCTIONS TO PETITION SIGNERS
You are being asked to sign a petition. You must be a qualified elector. This means you are eighteen years old, you have lived in North Dakota thirty days, and you are a United States citizen. All signers must add their complete residential address or rural route or general delivery address and the date of signing. Every qualified elector signing a petition must do so in the presence of the person circulating the petition.

This has been cross-posted on Glocktalk and TFL.
 
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Sorry I can't help you as I am not a ND resident, but please keep us posted on the progress, in particular what kind of roadblocks people try to throw at you and how you address them. I won't go to our Rose Festival here in Portland, OR because they exempt all weapons including persons with valid Oregon CHL's. :cuss: Same for Blazers games, although I not a huge fan of the "JailBlazers".
 
Just did some math and if we can get 50 people in this it will be 256 signatures per circulator, 100 people would need to get 128 signatures each.

At present I need just the 25 to get started with the Sec of State's office and the initial filing.

Thanks for the encouragement Cougfan2!!
 
Good luck with your project! Are there even that many people in North Dakota to sign that many petitions?
 
That number is 2% of the number of people that voted in the last general election. Since ND has approximately 2% of its people that have a CCW permit, I have hope.
 
I live in ND. Located in Bis/Man area, I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't have any actively 'pro' 2nd amendment friends/adequateness so I don't know how much of a help I would be.

If you haven't yet, try talking to people in gun shops. Gun city in Bismarck, the military surplus center in main street Mandan, pawn shops all might be good places to drum up some signatures.
 
Rapidfire,

I live in Cooperstown, a little north of Valley City. Unfortunately, I don't get to Bismarck very often. If this gets off the ground would you be willing to pass a petition around when you do hit the local shops?
Would you be willing to be added as a sponsoring member? If so PM me.
Thanks,

Nick
 
Absolutely I would be interested in helping to get signatures going. One can see how things could have been different in the school, mall, and church shootings if one or more properly trained people would have been carrying or allowed to be carrying. Nowhere in the world can anyone say it can't happen here any longer! If they do they have their head buried in sand. Criminals don't care about laws or restrications as they will do what and when they want until they run into enough resistants and we put the fear of God into them!
We can go to gun shops and other sporting goods stores and ask them if they would be interested in having a petition there. You don't need just 2nd amendment supporters to get signatures. Believe me people will sign most petitions, ask friends and relatives to just get it going. Explain it is to just get it on the Ballot to bring it to a vote of the people.
 
ND resident here. I'd like to get the Public Parks Designated Non-Hunting restriction removed as well. ND CCW is easy to get, but nearly worthless.
 
Thanks for the interest, I will let you all know as soon as I get the first 25 for the committee. Again, if you are willing to be on the committee, PM me.
 
Nickotym, I'm willing to be on the sponsoring committee, but we NEED to change the language to also remove the public parks language at the same time. Two birds, one stone. PM sent.
 
Outerlimit, This should take care of the public park part too as that is defined as part of the "public gathering". I will double check tonight or tomorrow.
 
Mods, is there a limit to how many times I can edit the OP?

I would like to add outer limit to the list of sponsor committee members. With him onboard, we need 20 more. Thanks for the enthusiasm everyone.
 
In reviewing the law, I realized I need to add the info below so that the public gathering language is the only part affected.

This would go at the end of the section numbered 2.
In addition, a municipal court judge licensed to practice law in this state, a district court judge, and a retired North Dakota law enforcement officer are exempt from the prohibition and penalty in subsection 1 if the individual is otherwise licensed to carry a firearm under section 62.1-04-03 and maintains the same level of firearms proficiency as is required by the peace officers standards and training board for law enforcement officers. A local law enforcement agency shall issue a certificate of compliance under this section to an individual who is proficient.
 
Rewrite of petition with outerlimit added and updates due to state law changes in last session of legislature.
INITIATIVE PETITION
TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE
STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA​
We, the undersigned, being qualified electors request the following initiated law be placed on the ballot as provided by law.
SPONSORING COMMITTEE​
The following are the names and addresses of the qualified electors of the state of North Dakota who, as the sponsoring committee for the petitioners, represent and act for the petitioners in accordance with law:

Nickotym (chair)

NDGlock(from Glocktalk)

Mrs Nickotym

Brokenbackjack

Outerlimit

NEED 20 more sponsoring committee members.


BALLOT TITLE


FULL TEXT OF THE MEASURE​

IF MATERIAL IS UNDERSCORED, IT IS NEW MATERIAL WHICH IS BEING ADDED. IF MATERIAL IS OVERSTRUCK BY DASHES, THE MATERIAL IS BEING DELETED. IF NO MATERIAL IS UNDERSCORED OR OVERSTRUCK, THE MEASURE CONTAINS ALL NEW MATERIAL WHICH IS BEING ADDED.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF NORTH DAKOTA:​

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT. Section 62.1-02-05 of the North Dakota Century Code is amended and reenacted as follows:

62.1-02-05. Possession of a firearm at a public gathering – Penalty
Application

1. A person who possesses a firearm at a public gathering is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. For the purposes of this section, “public gathering” includes
athletic or sporting events, schools or school functions, churches or church functions, political rallies or functions, musical concerts, and individuals in publicly owned parks where hunting is not allowed by proclamation and publicly owned or operated buildings.

2. This section does not apply to law enforcement officers; members of the armed forces of the United States or national guard, organized reserves, state defense forces, or state guard organizations, when on duty; competitors participating in organized sport shooting events; gun and antique shows; participants using blank cartridge firearms at sporting or theatrical events; any firearms carried in a temporary residence or motor vehicle; students and instructors at hunter safety classes; persons authorized to carry a concealed weapon in the state of North Dakota under section 62.1-04-03 or 62.1-04-03.1; or private security personnel while on duty. In addition, a municipal court judge licensed to practice law in this state, a district court judge, and a retired North Dakota law enforcement officer are exempt from the prohibition and penalty in subsection 1 if the individual is otherwise licensed to carry a firearm under section 62.1-04-03 and maintains the same level of firearms proficiency as is required by the peace officers standards and training board for law enforcement officers. A local law enforcement agency shall issue a certificate of compliance under this section to an individual who is proficient. However, persons carrying under section 62.1-04-03 or 62.1-04-03.1 shall not be authorized to carry in courthouses and shall be permitted access to gun storage at courthouses.

3. This section does not prevent any political subdivision from enacting an
ordinance which is less restrictive than this section relating to the possession of firearms at a public gathering. Such an ordinance supersedes this section within the jurisdiction of the political subdivision.

INSTRUCTIONS TO PETITION SIGNERS​
You are being asked to sign a petition. You must be a qualified elector. This means you are eighteen years old, you have lived in North Dakota thirty days, and you are a United States citizen. All signers must add their complete residential address or rural route or general delivery address and the date of signing. Every qualified elector signing a petition must do so in the presence of the person circulating the petition.
 
Not an ND resident, but I just emailed a few good pro-gun ND folks I know. Hope that brings you at least a few more signatures.

Any big gun shows coming up where you can fill your slate in a matter of hours?
 
Thanks for the help MV, I am still looking for the initial 25 I need to file with the state. Unfortunately there are at least 2 big gunshows in the next three weeks, hope I can hit at least one of them.
 
Would it be possible to put a petition online? I am a ND CCW holder and would be willing to sign a petition but I live overseas and can circulate any petitions.
 
I believe the way ND law reads, it has to be signed in person in the presence of a petition circulator. Thanks anyway BobHAJ. If you know of anyone back home that is willing to help, send them to this thread.
 
I'm an attorney in Williston, ND and will serve on the committee. I suspect at least one of my partners would be willing to also. PM me.
 
Being on the committee involves your name being on every copy of the petition that gets passed. Then passing petitions is the important part. Each person who gathers petitions must be a qualified voter in ND. Technically, they are not supposed to just be set out anywhere, there must be a qualified voter there who will sign that all the petition signers are also qualified voters, (18 and over, resident of the state for at least 30 days and not a felon who can't vote.)

At some point, committee members may be asked to do interviews, or that can be passed to someone else on the committee. We may need to do some advertising in newspapers as well, but will tackle that if it becomes an issue.
 
I Will be on Guntalk with Tom Gresham on Sunday. We will be talking about removing Gun free zones in ND and in other states. Hopefully we can get this jumpstarted in ND and spread it to the other states.
 
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