Everytown, North Carolina Moms Demand Action, Mayors, and Gun Violence Survivors Rally at General Assembly Against Repeal of Life-Saving Background Checks

RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, rallied today at the General Assembly in opposition to H. 562, which would repeal North Carolina’s requirement that all prospective handgun buyers pass a criminal background check. The Moms were joined by a coalition opposing the dangerous legislation including Representative Verla Insko (D-56), Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and Christy Salters Martin of Charlotte, a former boxing champion who was shot and injured by her ex-husband.

Everytown and North Carolina Moms also announced today that new television ads opposing H. 562 will air across the state beginning on May 11. Just last week Everytown and North Carolina Moms released polling, paid for by Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, showing that 87 percent of North Carolinians support background checks on all gun sales.

Further, independent research has shown that when Missouri passed similar legislation in 2007, the state’s gun homicide rate rose by 25 percent, and the state now suffers an additional 68 gun homicides per year.

“Today moms, mayors, gun violence survivors and more than 101,000 Everytown supporters in North Carolina are standing up for common sense,” said Sarah Green, volunteer Chapter Leader of the North Carolina Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Background checks are the single best way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and domestic abusers, but if H. 562 passes, they will no longer be required for unlicensed sales—including those between strangers who meet online. We urge our lawmakers to listen to 87 percent of North Carolinians and reject this dangerous, gun lobby-backed legislation.”

“I learned firsthand just how treacherous—and potentially fatal—it can be when a dangerous person gets his hand on a gun,” said former boxing champion and gun violence survivor Christy Salters Martin. “It’s imperative that North Carolina maintain its strong background check law because countless lives across the state depend on it.”

“Mayors see the toll of gun violence up close all too frequently,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition. “But if H. 562 passes, the evidence suggests gun violence will only get worse. When Missouri repealed its background check law in 2007, gun murders went up 25 percent. We can respect the Second Amendment and save lives at the same time by defeating this misguided bill.”

“The evidence is clear—background checks block criminals and other dangerous people from buying guns,” said Representative Verla Insko (D-56). “In Wake County alone last year, more than 800 would-be handgun buyers were denied permits for reasons including domestic abuse, felony, and serious mental illness. If we pass H. 562, those dangerous people could fail a background check at a licensed dealer and then meet a stranger in a parking lot and buy a gun with no questions asked.”