First Posted: 4/9/2015

North Carolina could license a force of armed “homeland security” marshals if a bill pushed by a gun-rights group is enacted. The newly minted guardians would even carry badges.

Even in gun-friendly North Carolina, this is going too far.

Senate Bill 708 is titled “An act to strengthen homeland security by establishing the homeland security unrestricted concealed handgun permit.” Applicants would qualify by passing a background check and completing both an advanced firearms course and a “simunition class.” Simunition, developed by a private company, is a “scenario-based training program.”

We’ll concede that people who undertake this training will be capable of defending themselves and others under the right conditions. They won’t be enrolled members of the military or sworn police officers. Yet they would be granted a badge and allowed to carry concealed firearms virtually anywhere in the state, ignoring “no guns” postings by private property owners.

“In terms of overriding property rights, law enforcement can already legally do so,” Paul Valone, president of the gun-rights group Grass Roots North Carolina, said by email. “This changes nothing in current law except to add to the number of people who are exempt from the applicable statute.”

It changes a lot. Police officers are professionals subject to a chain of command and accountable to the public. These other people, armed with concealed guns and badges, would not be. The bill would even keep the list of people holding this license confidential. They should not be entitled to carry weapons into a private business or a public place where it’s specifically posted that guns aren’t allowed.

A primary sponsor, Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenburg, says the intent is to provide another layer of defense against mass shootings or terrorism, “to have people ready on a moment’s notice when things happen.” It’s also an attempt to head off such ideas as arming teachers, which Tarte says “is not a good idea.” The training requirement would create “a kind of marshal program” made up of individuals who would be prepared to “meet deadly force with deadly force.”

Or, as Valone said, “to increase security at areas sensitive to multiple victim public homicides or terrorist events by providing trained, armed responders during the critical first few minutes before police can arrive.”

It’s possible that could happen. It’s far more likely that nothing would ever happen because terrorist attacks, fortunately, are rare. If one did occur, the chances that one of these “marshals” would be on the scene would be remote.

The greater concern is that the state would create a class of quasi-law enforcement officers who are trained in using guns but not in any other aspects of police work. It’s usually more important for officers to know how to deal with threats without using deadly force.

Just as troubling is the license to ignore private property rights and the lack of accountability. Simply knowing how to use a gun does not make someone an agent of “homeland security.”

— The News & Record of Greensboro