Our Core Values

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (NCGV) believes that every person has the right to live freely and thrive—to live to their highest potential without the imminent threat to life posed by intentional or indiscriminate use of guns.

We care deeply about communities across North Carolina and beyond, which are impacted every day by gun violence, including domestic violence, suicide, gun violence committed by law enforcement, homicides, and mass violence. We recognize and work to alleviate the lasting trauma it creates for victims, families, and community residents each day. We specifically acknowledge the gun violence-related trauma in Black American communities.

NCGV denounces hate crimes – racially, culturally, gender-based, and religiously motivated shootings –  fueled by white supremacist and white nationalist ideologies. We affirm that Black Lives Matter is a core NCGV value.

NCGV recognizes the “deadly intersection between guns and hate crimes.” Such hate-based violence is a crime against society and humanity and NCGV condemns it in the strongest terms. NCGV equally condemns violence directed against persons related to their age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, immigration status, language, religion, race, sexual orientation, or other intersectional identities.

Statement on The Impact of Gun Violence on our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Communities

Gun violence is a racial justice issue. The disparate impact of gun homicides on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and communities of color is well-documented, and it is part of our antiracist practice to recognize the systems and institutions that perpetuate racial injustice and social inequities which contribute to this adverse impact and trauma. 

NCGV works to make North Carolinians, and all who live in the United States, safer from gun violence. Our nation’s history of slavery, segregation, discriminatory law enforcement and racial disparities in criminal justice has had disastrous consequences for BIPOC communities. We acknowledge that gun violence disproportionately impacts these communities and Black people most adversely. We specifically condemn past and present gun violence against Black people by law enforcement. 

NCGV stands for racial equity and justice and equality of treatment for all persons. We commit to addressing issues of racial injustice through our efforts to educate, advocate, and support policies and programs that prevent gun violence and promote racial justice.

Our Commitment

We believe that to achieve comprehensive gun safety, we must address structural racism and work from within our own organization to create a more equitable body and society.

We commit to:

• Recognizing the systems and institutions that perpetuate racial injustice and social inequities, which contribute to the adverse impact and trauma of gun violence;
• Seeking racial justice in all of our work: advocacy, education, communication, and support for laws and policies that lead to the reduction and prevention of gun violence;
• Institutionalizing principles and practices of racial equity as drivers of our work–both internal and external;
• Working in equitable partnership with impacted communities to institutionalize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and promoting community and organization partnerships that have proven effective in reducing gun violence as well as violence overall;
• Denouncing all forms of hate-based violence – whether perpetrated by private citizens, self-appointed vigilantes, or law enforcement – that in any way seek to diminish the value of human life and in particular the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color;
• Declaring that every time gun violence occurs, a community is traumatized. Trauma can include the unspeakable mental, emotional and physical scarring results of gun violence;
• Using trauma-informed practices to ensure a holistic and healing culture for organization employees, volunteers, and community partners to reduce and/or prevent further harm;
• Supporting programs that directly address the cycles of trauma, hopelessness, despair, and powerlessness that result from gun violence;
• Actively recruiting an inclusive and representative board in order to engage with diverse organizational leaders in order to understand the impact of gun violence in our varied communities;
• Prioritizing and celebrating diversity and inclusion within our board, staff, and among our supporters, and volunteers;
• Examining our own biases and prejudices to better understand our role in perpetuating societal injustice, and working on antiracist strategies to promote racial understanding, justice, and healing.