Grass Roots North Carolina has been defending liberties and has been fighting for the rights of the citizens of the Old North State for years. They take a very active, and at times aggressive role in ensuring that people are informed, as well as seeing to it that bad actors in the North Carolina government are taken to task. Recently F. Paul Valone, the President of the organization, issued a congratulatory message to the state level leadership. In his letter, one to Senator Phil Berger, Senate President Pro Tempore, and another to Representative Tim Moore, the Speaker, Valone outlines some things the organization would like to see, as well as points out the group’s past role in the political sphere.

I hope you have been well. On this first day of a New Year so bright with potential, please accept my congratulations on achieving a supermajority in the North Carolina Senate.

Realizing the competing interests you face, when the 2023-2024 session of the NC General Assembly convenes, I strongly urge you to consider the interests of Second Amendment volunteers and voters who worked tirelessly to create a Republican majority capable of over-riding Governor Roy Cooper’s many gun-related vetoes.

Even beyond GRNC’s “Remember in November” voter education project which, in the 2022 elections, distributed 150,000 voter guides, including 120,000 mailed directly to gun-owning voters, the GRNC Political Victory Fund (GRNC-PVF) and our independent expenditure PAC, the Judicial Fairness Project (JFP), were highly active. As you probably know, with rare exceptions GRNC-PVF works to elect pro-gun candidates through a highly refined system of independent expenditures like those described below.

GRNC-PVF independent expenditures in General Assembly and Congressional races:

• 792,535 GRNC Political Victory Fund email recommendations sent
• 42,831 GRNC-PVF postcard election alerts mailed
• 19,765 GRNC-PVF automated telephone alerts delivered
• 67,161 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) text messages sent

Geofencing accomplishments:

This year, GRNC instituted new, cutting-edge methods to reach voters. In addition to P2P texting described above, GRNC used cutting-edge “geofencing” technology to deliver:

• 1,717,501 display impressions to mobile devices of gun-owning “drop-off” voters
• Achieving a unique reach of 29,477
• Producing 7,854 display clicks
• Resulting in 33,432 follow-up text messages

Overall, of 34 races targeted by the GRNC-PVF and JFP, we won an outstanding 27, yielding a win rate of nearly 80%. GRNC-PVF and JFP were also highly active in judicial elections, first by including judicial recommendations in all election alerts and second, by showcasing NC Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates at events such as our “Ring Steel for Freedom” event headlined by Senator-elect Ted Budd.

The organization has clearly been deeply involved in the political arena in North Carolina for some time. Naturally the support that does go out, goes out to freedom oriented efforts.

Valone outlined some areas that Grass Roots North Carolina intends on focusing:

I have no doubt that other conservative interests will vie for precious legislative resources, but I am certain none conducted express advocacy campaigns featuring the breadth, sophistication, and effectiveness with which we supported Second Amendment candidates in the 2022 elections.

Accordingly, GRNC’s Legislative Action Team will be highly active in the upcoming session – a session in which our agenda will include (but not necessarily be limited to):

• Permitless or “constitutional” carry of concealed firearms
• Repealing our archaic, Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit law
• Protecting religious institutions by eliminating the “church carry loophole”
• Protecting North Carolina’s long tradition of shooting on personal property

Obviously, GRNC will also continue to vociferously oppose gun control measures such as deceptive and unconstitutional “red flag” gun confiscation – a priority I’m certain you share.

Other dubious entities might claim to speak for North Carolina gun owners, but among state-level organizations, only Grass Roots North Carolina truly represents the interest of our state’s Second Amendment advocates.

Given new GOP power plus the role of gun voters in creating it, I have every confidence Republican leadership will end our frustrating seven-year stalemate and advance the rights of Second Amendment supporters who look forward to reaping the rewards they worked so hard to achieve.

The residents of the Tar Heel State, members of Grass Roots North Carolina, Valone, and any other lover of liberty and freedom all have cause to celebrate. With the North Carolina State Assembly and Senate having a near supermajority, a lot of important work might get done in the realm of removing restrictions from civil liberties. Valone and his group arent’s assured smooth sailing, as there have been plenty of issues in the state. However, with a few extra friends to help out, we can hope for the best as the organization moves forward into this new legislative session.