Our Mission

To make North Carolina safe from gun violence through the education of the public about preventing gun violence, the enforcement of current gun laws, and the enactment of needed new laws.

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Polls have consistently shown that the majority of North Carolinians, like other Americans, want to prevent gun violence through effective policies and laws.* The North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund is dedicated to mobilizing this majority and making citizens safe from gun violence. We are building a statewide grassroots movement of individuals dedicated to reducing gun violence.

Our major strategy for preventing gun violence is through education - explaining the nature of gun violence and ways to prevent it. We also work for enforcement - advocating enforcement of existing laws - and enactment - supporting legislation on state and national levels.

We advocate approaches which address both prevention, focusing on the underlying causes of gun violence, and punishment, dealing with the perpetrators of gun violence in the criminal justice system. We endorse measures that deal with the underlying reasons for violence, such as poverty, lack of jobs, family breakdown, alcohol and drug abuse, anger and despair, and the glorification of violence in the media. We endorse measures to rehabilitate young, potentially dangerous offenders, to keep abusive spouses from possessing guns, and to remove violent, gun-wielding criminals from society.

* 64% of North Carolinians favor strengthening gun laws. - Carolina Poll, University of North Carolina, 1999.

60% of Americans support stricter laws to prevent gun violence. - Associated Press Poll, 2000.

History

Founded in 1993 by three Chapel Hill women, NCGV is the first statewide, grassroots organization dedicated to educating and mobilizing North Carolinians to prevent gun violence. Since 1996, NCGV has maintained a central office and staff in Durham. NCGV has been involved in numerous activities over the years. In 2000, NCGV participated in the Million Mom March in Washington, DC for increased action to stop gun violence. In 2000 and 2001 NCGV hosted film screenings and panel discussions as part of the First Monday National Awareness Campaign on Gun Violence. Also in 2001, NCGV hosted the First Statewide Citizens' Conference to Stop NC Gun Violence. NCGV has brought national figures to North Carolina to demonstrate support for the issue, including, Jim and Sarah Brady of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York, and singer/actress Petula Clark. NCGV also has participated regularly in street fairs, festivals and other public events in the Triangle and throughout NC.

In legislative advocacy, NCGV worked in 1999 to introduce legislation for the first time in the NC General Assembly with the help of legislators, law enforcement groups and other organizations concerned with gun violence prevention. The following House bills were introduced: 1)Close the Gun Show Loophole; 2)Trace Guns Used in Crime; and 3) Strengthen Safe Storage of Firearms Law. The bill to Trace Guns Used in Crime passed into law. The law urges law enforcement to trace guns used in crime to the original purchaser in order to find how the gun ended up in criminal hands; often guns are traced to illegal gun dealers and gun traffickers. In 2002, NCGV worked with legislators, law enforcement, educational, medical, religious and other groups to pass legislation to prevent Illegal Gun Trafficking in North Carolina. Illegal gun trafficking involves the sale or transfer of firearms to convicted felons, domestic abusers, juveniles and other persons prohibited by law from obtaining firearms.