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26 <br /> 4 <br /> action under Article 36A of Chapter 14 of the <br /> General Statutes. ' <br /> Under G. S. 160A-1t9, the Legislature has specifically authorized <br /> the Town to prohibit the discharge of firearms. However, the <br /> Legislature has only authorized the Town specifically to regulate <br /> their display, not to prohibit that display by prohibiting their <br /> possession. While there may be an argument that the general police <br /> power could be so construed (see G.S. 160A-174 (a) and -177) , there <br /> may be a countervailing argument that a municipality cannot <br /> prohibit something otherwise authorized by law and the State <br /> Constitution (G.S. 160A-174 (b) ) . <br /> b) N.C.G.S. Sec. 14-4 provides, in part: <br /> (I) f any person shall violate an ordinance of a <br /> county, city, town, . . . he shall be guilty of a <br /> misdemeanor. . . . <br /> In addition to only being a misdemeanor, the maximum potential <br /> penalty that can be established for violation of any loyal <br /> ordinance is $500 or 30 days imprisonment. <br /> 2. North Carolina Constitution <br /> Article I, Sec. 30 of the North Carolina Constitution provides: <br /> A well regulated militia being necessary to the <br /> security of a free State, the right of the people <br /> to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; and, <br /> as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous <br /> to liberty, they shall not be maintained, and the <br /> military shall be kept under strict subordination <br /> to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing <br /> herein shall justify the practice of carrying <br /> concealed weapons, or prevent the General Assembly <br /> • from enacting penal statutes against that practice. <br /> North Carolina court decisions have interpreted this provision as <br /> guaranteeing a broader right to individuals to keep and bear arms <br /> than that guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.) However, that <br /> Article 36A, Chapter 14 relates to declaring states of <br /> emergency during riots and civil disorders. <br /> 2 Thus, as explained in the March, 1990 memorandum, a <br /> determination by the Courts holding that a local ordinance in <br /> another state banning all handguns does not violate the Second <br /> Amendment to the United States Constitution or that state's <br /> constitution does not mean that such an ordinance is consistent <br /> with the North Carolina Constitution. <br />