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North Carolina Moms Condemn House Rules Committee’s Passage of HB 562, Dangerous Gun Bill That Would Repeal State’s Handgun Permitting System, Background Check Requirement

6.3.2015

House Rules Committee Defies Law Enforcement, 87 Percent of North Carolina Voters in Passing Dangerous Bill

Raleigh, NC – The North Carolina Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today condemned the North Carolina House Rules Committee’s passage of HB 562 by a 14-13 vote. This dangerous legislation would repeal the state’s handgun permitting system, creating a loophole that would allow violent felons and other dangerous people to buy guns from unlicensed sellers with no background check, no questions asked.

“Passing this dangerous legislation and sending it to the full House floor, over the opposition of North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association, 87 percent of North Carolinians, and more than 100,000 Everytown supporters in the state is alarming,” said Sarah Green, volunteer Chapter Leader of the North Carolina Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “If HB 562 becomes law, our state could follow the path of Missouri, where private sale background checks were repealed in 2007 and gun homicides spiked 25 percent. Letting felons, domestic abusers, and other dangerous people meet an unlicensed stranger online and buy a gun without a background check is a recipe for disaster.”

Yesterday, ten North Carolina mayors—including the mayors of Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Winston-Salem—signed onto a joint letter urging lawmakers to reject HB 562 and revealing that an estimated 10,800 people are denied handgun permits each year in North Carolina. “The pistol purchase permit system is the only mechanism that blocks thousands of would-be handgun buyers from getting armed with no questions asked. If HB 562 becomes law, any of these dangerous people can simply find an unlicensed stranger online or at a gun show, and buy a handgun with no background check,” the letter states.

Also yesterday—in honor of the first-ever National Gun Violence Awareness Day—North Carolina Moms wore orange and delivered petitions signed by more than 3,000 North Carolinians to the General Assembly calling on lawmakers to reject HB 562.

The event was part of a national campaign called “Wear Orange” that brings together a broad coalition of leading organizations, cultural influencers, mayors, Members of Congress, community leaders and activists to amplify existing efforts to reduce gun violence in America. The idea was inspired by a group of Chicago teens who asked their classmates to commemorate the life of a slain friend by wearing orange. They chose the color because hunters wear orange to announce themselves to other hunters when out in the woods. Orange acknowledges that America has a proud heritage of responsible gun ownership, while also reflecting the value of human life.