John --

Yesterday Governor Cooper signed a far reaching gun safety Executive Directive <[link removed]> that orders increased actions by state agencies such as closing crime-reporting gaps between the state and federal agencies, expanding firearm safety and crime prevention efforts, and working to reduce suicides.      .

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence applauds Governor Cooper for taking real steps to address our gun violence epidemic in its various forms.                

The Governor’s Executive Directive orders the following:

- The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) will continue working  to make federal background checks more reliable by ensuring more criminal convictions are reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Since 2018, the SBI has identified 284,289 criminal convictions unreported in the NICS database. 
- Background checks are only useful if criminal convictions will be revealed by those background checks, and those convictions will only be revealed if they are reported to NICS. This is critical to ensuring safety.
- The SBI will provide behavioral threat assessment training to local law enforcement agencies to help them connect individuals identified as a potential risk of harm to others with supportive community services. We know that these types of community intervention programs work. For example, High Point has had an effective deterrence program in place for 21 years that has helped reduce violent crime.       
- The Department  of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will promote safe storage of personal firearms to help reduce the estimated 81,000 North Carolina children living in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms.
- DHHS will convene a coalition of suicide prevention stakeholders to update the state’s suicide prevention plan. In 2016, 58% of all suicide deaths in the state involved firearms.

Governor Cooper says: “Wishing, praying, and sending condolences alone just aren’t enough to prevent these tragedies. We have to take action.”

We agree. And we are heartened that the Governor is indeed taking action.

We are glad that you have chosen to take action with North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. Our work is fueled by you and our supporters throughout the state with your actions and donations. Please consider volunteering <[link removed]> with and/or donating <[link removed]> to us today.

--Becky

p.s. Here is The Raleigh News & Observer’s story on the Governor’s directive <[link removed]>.



NCGV
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