Black Lives Matter.
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
  • Programs
    • Ecumenical Immigration Alliance
      • Ideas for Action
      • Sign Our Statement
      • The NC Sanctuary Coalition
      • Immigration Bible Study
      • Contact
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Public Education
    • NC Sanctuary Coalition
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
    • NC No Torture
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

Scrutiny for Gun Laws, Post-Charleston

Steve Ford, Volunteer Program Associate · June 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Their timing, as it turned out, was less than impeccable.

The gun-rights boosters who are pushing N.C. House Bill 562 ran up against some common-sense objections that resulted in two main elements being stripped from the bill.

But more than that, later on the very evening when the bill gained final House passage, the folly of lax firearms regulation was once again illuminated by the monstrous events in Charleston, S.C., where the devil’s brew of guns and racial hatred claimed nine lives.

The fate of nine respected and beloved citizens who on June 17 had welcomed a stranger to their Wednesday night Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, only to have that stranger pull a handgun and shoot them down, has left every American of goodwill awash in grief and groping for answers.

How could anyone be so warped, so cruel, so wicked as to conceive and carry out such a crime? How could it jibe with any sense of cosmic justice that church-goers sharing their faith as they felt obliged to do would be targeted by a killer?

Many pastors, many religious and no doubt irreligious people of all varieties, are dwelling on questions of that sort as the funerals take place and as the authorities begin the process of calling Dylann Storm Roof to account for the murders he reportedly has confessed to committing.

Hearts will be examined and souls will be searched. But there are as well questions of a more practical nature – having to do not only with the killer’s motives but also his means.

When someone is bent on mayhem, it’s not necessary to have a gun. Case in point: the Boston bombers, armed with exploding pressure cookers seeded with shrapnel.

But a gun is convenient. Aside from Boston, Oklahoma City and the off-the-charts terrorism of Sept. 11, 2001, when people in this country go murderously berserk, they typically start shooting. The roll is sickeningly familiar: Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Newtown. And so on.

Keeping and bearing

Hence the ongoing national debate over the true and proper reaches of the 2nd Amendment. Unless we’re prepared to sell other Constitutional rights down the river as well, we have to take the amendment’s pledge – that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed – at face value. But that doesn’t mean, and has never been interpreted to mean, that we can’t institute reasonable controls on firearms ownership and use. Sure, go buy a handgun – but first convince the local sheriff that you’re a solid citizen.

That’s the law as it stands in North Carolina. Yet H.B. 562, as first proposed, would have phased out the state’s system whereby sheriffs determine someone’s fitness to own a pistol.

Instead of pistol permits, issued county by county – presumably by officials who could make an informed judgment as to whether the weapon would be lawfully used – the only oversight would have come via a dealer’s request through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. That system’s effectiveness can be endlessly debated. But it’s hard to deny that doing away with permitting by sheriffs would have amounted to a major fix of something that wasn’t broken.

The good news is that when the House got finished with H.B. 526, the sheriffs’ authority remained largely intact. (It helped that the N.C. Sheriffs Association had raised a ruckus.) Furthermore, the House dropped another key provision favored by gun-rights supporters.

As introduced, the bill would have kept health care providers from using patient-information questionnaires to inquire about someone’s “use, storage or possession” of firearms. Nor would doctors, nurses, psychologists, etc. have been allowed to alert law enforcement authorities if a patient said something alarming about his or her access to guns – unless there were signs of a direct threat to individual or public safety.

That provision was notably absent in the bill as approved by the House. So was an almost ludicrous measure that would have allowed legislators to carry concealed weapons in their respective chambers – for what valid and necessary purpose it’s impossible to say.

For all that, the bill is meant to strengthen gun owners’ rights, not to further balance them with the equally valid rights of other folks to go about their lives without fearing they’ll be caught up in the crossfire of a modern-day OK Corral.

Now, the Senate will have to decide whether – with the Charleston outrage fresh in everyone’s mind – this is the time once again to genuflect to the gun owners, gun dealers and gun manufacturers whose interests lie in puny firearms rules. Let’s hope that, as they did in the House, wiser and cooler heads will prevail.

Go see the sheriff

At this point it’s far from clear whether weaknesses in South Carolina gun laws or the enforcement of those laws helped Dylann Roof acquire the .45-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol that he allegedly used to execute his nine victims.

An uncle of Roof’s told reporters that the weapon was given to the young man by his father, as a 21st birthday present. But other sources told the Associated Press that Roof actually was given birthday money that he then used to buy the gun – which reportedly has been traced to a South Carolina gun shop.

The fact that Roof faced a misdemeanor drug possession charge evidently wouldn’t have blocked such a sale under South Carolina law, even with the requirement for an instant background check. He would not have been required to obtain a permit to buy the weapon.

In North Carolina, an unlawful drug user isn’t eligible for a sheriff’s handgun permit. The pending North Carolina bill also underscores a sheriff’s authority to deny a permit to someone because of misdemeanor charges involving violence – domestic violence, for example. Absent amendments backed by House Republicans, who control the chamber, sheriffs would have been cut out of the picture entirely.

According to the AP, Roof’s handgun was twice taken away from him by people worried about his intentions. In one instance, he recovered it – from his mother. In the other, friends returned it to him. In hindsight, we can see that Dylann Roof was a poor candidate indeed to be entrusted with a weapon capable of killing nine people almost (but not quite) before they knew what was happening.

Any sheriff asked to review Roof’s background and character would have had ample grounds to flag his application for a pistol permit – if such a system had been in effect. There’s no good reason to abandon the permitting system North Carolina fortunately does have – and senators contemplating the Charleston tragedy ought to have the good sense and decency, when considering changes to this state’s gun laws, to leave well enough alone. Unless, that is, they want to make those laws stronger.

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Gun Violence, N.C. General Assembly, Peace, Race/Ethnicity

Steve Ford, Volunteer Program Associate

About Steve Ford, Volunteer Program Associate

Much goes on in North Carolina's state capital that's important to the Council of Churches. I'm glad to have a chance to help follow the action, transitioning from my career with The News & Observer of Raleigh, where I retired in 2012 as editorial page editor. I'm originally from Virginia but have lived in Cary so long I remember the Kildaire Farm barn.

Read more of my commentary here.

Reader Interactions

More Like This

Gun Violence Prevention: The Work Goes On
Guns, Medicaid, Gridlock
Staying Sane: Gun Laws that Work

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Anonymous comments or comments that target individuals will not be posted (please include your first and last name). All comments must be on topic and respectful. Comments will not be posted until they have been reviewed by a moderator. Comments do not reflect the positions of the NC Council of Churches.

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

Scrutiny for Gun Laws, Post-Charleston

Latest Tweets

ICYMI: Check out our spotlight piece on Olive Branch Ministry, Hickory, to learn more about their faith-based harm reduction work serving the foothills and piedmont of North Carolina. ncchurches.org/2021/…

About 2 days ago

This Earth Month, we're calling on our network to advocate with compassion for a just & sustainable future. To support you in this hard & holy work, @NCIPL complied a toolkit with policy positions, calls to action, & how we engage in faith-based advocacy. ncchurches.org/advoc…

About 2 days ago

Make sure to register for our upcoming Legislative Seminar. Our opening worship service and award ceremony will honor Michael S. Regan, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, with the Faith Active in Public Life award. ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/rG7U…

About 3 days ago

Faith Climate Action Week is coming up! This year's theme is Sacred Ground: Cultivating Connections Between our Faith, our Food, and the Climate. Follow the link to find events >> faithclimateactionwe…

About 5 days ago

2021 is the year for drawing districts in each state after the completion of the US Census. Check out the @LWV's blog on encouraging people to speak up about the drawing of fair maps. Read now >> lwv.org/blog/redistr… pic.twitter.com/4KMR…

About 2 weeks ago

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

Now that all North Carolinians age 16+ are eligible to receive a #COVID19 vaccine, use the @ncdhhs resource hub to find a local provider near you to get your shot! #MySpotMyShotNC #NC covid19.ncdhhs.gov/v… #MindfulTogether

About 3 days ago

Join us next Thurs., April 22 for our Sacred Conversations event on caring for creation. We'll be discussing environmental caretaking, collective action, and our Sustainability Pledge. Register online at ncchurches.ourpowerb… @NCIPL #MindfulTogether #EarthDay pic.twitter.com/GTpI…

About 4 days ago

Read our spotlight piece on Olive Branch Ministry to learn more about their faith-based harm reduction work serving the foothills and piedmont of North Carolina. ncchurches.org/2021/… @olivebranchgals #MindfulTogether pic.twitter.com/xj2U…

About 5 days ago

Our work has led us to recognize the impact our environment has on our health and ability to flourish. Click below to read more about our commitment to being stewards of God’s good Creation through our Sustainability Pledge. ncchurches.org/phw-s… @NCIPL #MindfulTogether

About 5 days ago

Awesome opportunity from our partners at @emergingissues! #MindfulTogether twitter.com/emerging…

About 6 days ago

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

RT @cbonac "The Paris Agreement was a promise ring. Now it's time to get married.....Net-zero ignores that people are suffering right now." @Tamaraity during #PowerShift2021

About 4 hours ago

RT @RogueClimate “Lets talk about the fact that the ways in which the planet has been so exploited are directly related to capitalism, to racial capitalism. Racial capitalism reflects the way in which capitalism came into being, colonization and slavery.” Angela Davis #powershift2021 pic.twitter.com/gQIH…

About 4 hours ago

RT @miclegend310 At #PowerShift2021 day 3 learning from impacted residents fighting back from Cancer Alley. Grateful for this opportunity to learn and follow actions that support and protect our people pic.twitter.com/P70M…

About 4 hours ago

RT @faithinplace Next week is #FaithClimateActionWeek! Join @interfaithpower on April 21 @ 1pm CT for “Sacred Ground: A Message of Hope”—a conversation with @kissthegroundoc filmmaker @JoshTickell & Statewide Outreach Dir. Veronica Kyle on @faithinplace amazing CSAs! bit.ly/Sacred-Ground… pic.twitter.com/xxX7…

About 13 hours ago

RT @ecoAmerica Register for the American Climate Leadership Summit today for the opportunity to join 1000+ climate leaders including Nana Firman, Senior Ambassador of @greenfaithworld to help move America along the solutions path faster! Sign up here: acls2021.org #ACLS2021 pic.twitter.com/Rdxc…

About 13 hours ago

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2021 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine