About Gun Violence

The Problem

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gun violence in the United States claims the lives of nearly 40,000 people annually. This is a violent epidemic of extraordinary proportions.

There were 340 mass shootings in our nation in 2018.

There are steps we can take to stop this from becoming the new normal. We may not stop all gun violence, but common-sense gun reforms can and do keep us safe. 87% of North Carolinians, 83% of gun owners, and 72% of NRA members support background checks for all gun sales

Mass shootings should not be a part of the American vocabulary and these attacks are far from normal.

Together we can take a stand against gun violence and call on our representatives for common-sense gun reform. We all deserve to be kept safe here at home in our Tarheel state.

Staggering Statistics

There are more than 3 times the amount of civilian-owned guns per 100 people in the US than any other modern industrialized country (Council on Foreign Relations 2019)

Death by gunshot was the second-highest cause of death in the United States in 2016 among children and adolescents ages 1 to 19. Globally, the United States led the world in the rate of firearm deaths in youth among countries with available data in 2016. The rate in the US was 36.5 times higher than in a dozen comparable high-income countries around the world; the rate of firearm deaths was five times as high compared with a sampling of low- to middle -income countries. (CNN 2018)

Guns are the only U.S. product (other than tobacco) exempt from Federal Safety oversight.

Toy guns and teddy bears are regulated; real guns are not. (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 2003)

In 2018 alone, 1,416 North Carolinians were shot and killed by firearms. (CDC 2018)