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3 <br /> 25 <br /> Discussion <br /> For purposes of discussion, this report divides potential Town <br /> initiatives into three categories: <br /> 1. Enactment of additional local regulations. <br /> • <br /> 2 . Pursuit of additional local or statewide authority. <br /> • <br /> 3 . Use of existing laws and imposition of more severe <br /> sentences. <br /> This report is intended only to identify and discuss some possible <br /> initiatives. It is not a recommendation as to the merits of the <br /> Council' s considering any of these for possible action nor does it <br /> present fully the legal rationale to defend any such initiative and <br /> the potential legal challenges that might be raised to any action <br /> the Council considers taking. I would anticipate that tonight's <br /> public hearing will provide an opportunity both for the <br /> presentation of other ideas and comment on the merits of these <br /> possible initiatives and other proposals. <br /> I. POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL LOCAL ORDINANCES. <br /> A. Legal Constraints <br /> There are two primary legal limitations on the Town's authority to <br /> enact ordinances further regulating firearms, the North Carolina <br /> General Statutes and the North Carolina Constitution. These are <br /> discussed in the attached March, 1990, memorandum. <br /> 1. North Carolina General Statutes. <br /> The North Carolina General Statutes limit the Town's authority as <br /> to: (a) the substance of regulations; and, (b) the severity of <br /> punishment that may be imposed. <br /> a) N.C.G.$. Sec. 160A-189 provides that a municipality <br /> uai: <br /> regulate, restrict, or prohibit the discharge of <br /> firearms at any time or place within the city <br /> except when used in defense of persons or property <br /> or pursuant to lawful directions of law-enforcement <br /> officers, and may regulate the display of firearms <br /> on the streets, sidewalks, alleys, or other public <br /> property. Nothing in this section shall be <br /> construed to limit a city's authority to take <br />