NC HB 111: Why is Restaurant Carry needed?

To: Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives

From: F. Paul Valone, President, Grass Roots North Carolina
Re: House Bill 111

Some have asked whether North Carolina has a “need” for HB 111: “Handgun Permit Valid in Parks & Restaurants. Few could answer the question as eloquently as Nicole Renee Goeser, whose husband was murdered in front of her by a stalker in a busy Tennessee restaurant. She sent me the letter below just today.
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Why is Restaurant Carry needed?

My husband, Ben, was brutally murdered right in front of me on the night of April 2, 2009 by a man who had been stalking me. Ben was shot six times, at close range, in the middle of a busy restaurant in the Nashville, TN area. There were over 50 people in the restaurant that night who all helplessly watched with me. At the time, Tennessee State Law said no one who has passed a background check, had their finger prints taken and gone through proper state certified training could carry their permitted gun for self defense in any establishment that serves alcohol. I am a right to carry permit holder but because of my respect for the law, I left my permitted gun locked in my vehicle that night.

My husband bought me my Smith & Wesson .38 revolver for self-defense and that gun should have been used to save his life. At the time, I had gone through a permit course, intermediate course, shooting competitions and I was a range volunteer. I will never know now if I could have saved Ben. But I was denied the chance. I was legislated out of my right to defend my husband. I stood in disbelief and complete helplessness as my stalker took the man I chose to spend the rest of my life with away from me. Unlike the people who blame the gun when their loved one is taken by gun violence, I blame the man behind the gun and the naïve belief that gun bans will be obeyed by criminals.

Never underestimate the intelligence of a criminal. I am positive my stalker knew he could carry out a killing with no resistance because he knew nobody in the restaurant could stop him. We were sitting ducks.

I would like to point out that the man who killed Ben did NOT have a handgun carry permit and was carrying his gun illegally. The Law did nothing to stop him from carrying his illegal gun into that restaurant. The law did stop me, by drawing an invisible line for me at that front doorstep. The penalties for a law-abiding citizen are much greater than for a criminal. The law does not even cause a bad guy to blink. Laws are made for the law abiding. As the law stood, it kept law-abiding citizens from having the ability to defend themselves and their loved ones in a nightmare scenario which my husband and I found ourselves in. This law did not faze my stalker and he now sits in a prison awaiting his “fair trial” for a murder he carried out almost 2 years ago. I still wait for some small crumb of justice for my husband to this day. I know that this story must seem unreal. I wish it were not real. Unfortunately, it is my reality and I hope you can learn something from it.

The Restaurant Carry Bill only allows citizens who have a carry permit to carry in these establishments. Just as your existing carry law now states, you cannot be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and have your gun in your possession. Nothing will change regarding this. This law is already in place and will apply with restaurant carry as well. It’s not the good guys that you should fear. Just 0.3% of North Carolina’s permit holders from December 1, 1995 to December 31, 2008 have ever had their permit revoked for any reason. Large counties such as Mecklenburg and Wake with the most revocations can’t point to even one revocation resulting from the improper use of a gun.


These are extremely law-abiding people who simply want the ability to protect themselves and their families wherever they have a right to be. This should hold true for restaurants that happen to also sell alcohol. Evil does not stop at the doorstep of a Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden or Logan’s Steakhouse. Take it from someone who has lived it. Extreme Violence can occur anywhere and at anytime. When seconds count, the police are minutes away. I can promise you that. I have been there.

Nicole Renee Goeser
Address withheld by request
To speak with Ms. Goeser, please contact
GRNC President Paul Valone at President@GRNC.org

We need to be able to protect our selfs at all times. Please contact your Repts in NC to pass HB 650.    ~Jerry