Legislators get cold feet on gun safety, leave popular bipartisan programs underfunded

A North Carolina Highway Patrol officer demonstrates how to attach a gunlock (Photo: Screenshot from NC SAFE video -- https://www.ncsafe.org/)

Earlier this month, North Carolina legislators returned home after a busy session in which they passed bills on everything from banning masking to allowing takeout cocktails.

I know it’s hard to compete with mobile margaritas, but I can’t help but feel like our priorities are out of whack. So many other important initiatives got left behind, like funding for NC S.A.F.E – a statewide educational awareness initiative to help folks secure firearms effectively– as well as funding for CVIs– community violence intervention programs.

These aren’t controversial programs. They keep toddlers from accidentally shooting a sibling and the depressed from succumbing to suicide. They provide job opportunities to folks who may otherwise turn to violent crime and gun locks to parents who need to childproof their home.

Initially, the North Carolina General Assembly got behind these programs, passing legislation last year that created a safe storage awareness initiative. But the Republican majority eventually got cold feet, failing to devote any funding to the program.

It’s no secret that North Carolina is struggling with gun violence. Thousands of guns are reported stolen from vehicles in our state each year. Of the 1.8 million North Carolina households that contain a firearm, over half report that their guns are unsecured. Firearms are now the leading cause of injury death for children in North Carolina. Three years ago, we lived through the most violent year in our state’s history– an upward trend we anticipate will continue.

Choose your statistic, the story is the same: we need to act on gun violence.

We need safeguards, we need training, we need the support of our government leaders to handle firearms responsibly. But time and time again, the General Assembly refuses to provide the resources we need to make this happen.

By funding NC S.A.F.E, the Department of Public Safety would have been able to continue the work of leading educational campaigns on safe storage practices. NC S.A.F.E has worked hard to form partnerships with gun ranges, pediatricians, and health departments to distribute more than 50,000 gunlocks since the beginning of the program. By simply following safe storage practices, youth fatalities from firearm suicide and accidents could be reduced by as much as 32% .

With funding for CVI programs, local governments and nonprofits would have been able to lead outreach, mediation, and intervention efforts with the people at the highest risk of violence. CVI programs connect people to education, employment, substance abuse, and mental health resources — resources that address the underlying issues that lead to gun violence. These programs have already been used successfully in some of our cities, like Greensboro, Durham, and Charlotte, but expansion to other cities is urgently needed.

A few months back, I read a story about a three-year-old nicknamed “little shadow.” The young boy– an avid fan of Paw Patrol and Spiderman – earned his nickname because he couldn’t help but hang on to his parents’ back pockets as they moved around the house. While exploring the house one day, he stumbled upon a loaded handgun, curiously pulling the trigger that would end his life.

Three years old.

I’m not sure any number, any statistic, will truly get through to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger or House Speaker Tim Moore to finally take action on common sense gun safety measures. They’re like putty in the hands of the gun lobby.

But they often forget that the NRA doesn’t determine our future, we the people do.

The recent horrific assassination attempt in Pennsylvania only underscores the importance of acting in this moment. Gun violence threatens our political freedom, and commonsense reforms can help protect it. While there were more than a dozen guns in the home of the shooter, it was his father’s rifle that the shooter ultimately used to fire bullets through the fabric of our democracy.

The solutions are right in front of us — the tools, the research. We simply need the courage to use them.

Lawmakers should rest assured that in the fall, we’ll be using one of those tools – our ballots– to bring the change that they lack the courage to fulfill.

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