This week, Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson went on the radio with Tony Riggsbee from WPTF Radio in the Triangle.
The two began with a discussion on the General Assembly’s gun violence bills. Specifically, Riggsbee and Henderson discussed House Bill 454, which many Democrats in the legislature are trying to move to the floor for a vote. HB 454 is similar to many so-called “red flag” laws, which limit the ability of high-risk individuals to possess or obtain a firearm. Henderson stated the questions many people are asking about the bill:
“The issue for an awful lot of folks is how do you determine what those red flags are? And how do you make sure, before someone is denied a constitutional right, that there is proper oversight and there is enough justification done so that a person is not denied the right to own a firearm because they are taking an antidepressant or something like that?”
The two continued the interview with a discussion of the upcoming election operations. Riggsbee asked Henderson about the recent resignation of N.C. Board of Elections Chairman, Bob Cordle. Henderson commented that a new chairman must be chosen soon:
“The board has got to get together again in two weeks and figure out how is it going to handle certifying election machines for the next election cycle. Governor Cooper has not indicated who he might pick for the job.”
Are far as the election machines go, Henderson commented:
“One of the problems here is the state has typically allowed counties to decide what kinds of machines they want, and there is only one vendor that makes machines that are operated fully electronically.”
Henderson commented that election filings are coming up soon, so these issues need to be handled promptly in order to ensure a smooth election operation.
