2021: A Year in Review

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

Gun Violence Prevention

2021 Legislative Agenda

The 2021 legislative session has begun in North Carolina. Our partners at North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (NCGV) have put together a comprehensive agenda of evidence-based policies with bipartisan support in North Carolina or other states.

We fully support the legislative agenda put forth by NCGV.  As bills start moving, we will amplify action alerts letting you know about specific legislation along with actions you can take. Your voice matters!

Please continue reading for the full agenda with details on specific policy:

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) legislation
We will continue advocating for ERPO legislation because it has been proven effective. It has had bipartisan support in other states. (See our ERPO fact sheet for more.)

State-wide safe firearm storage campaign
We will advocate for legislation to fund a statewide safe storage educational campaign and distribution of free gun locks. (Fact sheet)

Funding for Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs
We will support NCGV’s work with the Governor’s office, his Crime Commission, the General Assembly, and our stakeholders to find funds to support Community-Based Violence Interruption and Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs that are proven effective in reducing every day interpersonal violence.  Great summary on these programs from our friends at Everytown here.

Legislation requiring all gun owners to report lost and stolen firearms
Currently, federal law only requires federally licensed firearms retailers to report lost/stolen firearms. We will advocate for a law to require the reporting of all lost or stolen guns, even if they are from individual gun owners. (Fact sheet)

Fighting Harmful Legislation
NCGV strongly opposes the following:

  • Arming NC educators and school staff (fact sheet)
  • Legislation weakening NC’s pistol purchase permitting system and/or concealed carry weapons permitting system (see our permitless carry fact sheet)
  • Attempts to pass the Second Amendment Protection Act (fact sheet)
  • Other bills weakening current firearm laws, or bills expanding the number of places where firearms can be carried.

Gun violence prevention has long been a racial equity matter. More Blacks favor restrictions on access to guns; more whites are gun rights advocates (“What the ‘black-on-black crime’ fallacy misses about race and gun deaths,” Shirley Carswell, The Washington Post, July 8, 2020). Guns, however, are not the panacea protection that gun rights advocates claim. Guns are dangerous and more guns are more dangerous. Many Black people know first-hand that more guns mean more gun deaths, having attended the funerals of their parents, siblings, and children caught in gun violence cross-fire. White people know this as well, though through a different statistic: over seventy percent of gun suicides are white men. Again, more guns mean more gun deaths. We have stated in the past that Americans have a strange relationship to their guns, in some instances verging on idolism. The idea of owning a gun, or at least having the right to own one, is raised to the level of religious frenzy without regard to the real harm happening in our communities.

We hope the resources you find here will help tell a different story, a more accurate story, and provide the tools needed to start saving lives.

Related

April 24, GVP Symposium
You Shall Not Make an Idol
Gun Violence Prevention: The Work Goes On
Guns, Medicaid, Gridlock