John,

The NC Senate is fast-tracking a bill allowing guns at religious places of worship with associated schools. The bill, S.B. 43,1 just passed the Rules committee and is now headed to the Senate floor for consideration TOMORROW at 9:30am!

We are very concerned this bill compromises the safety of school children. For starters, there are too many documented instances of people leaving their guns behind in bathrooms, classrooms and gymnasiums.2 This bill also opens the door to private schools without an associated place of worship to argue that they also should be exempt from the firearms prohibition.

Please take a minute to email your NC Senator and ask him/her to oppose this dangerous bill.

While the bill states that “firearms are not allowed during curricular or extracurricular activities” at a place of worship, children would still be put at more risk as this distinction is unlikely to be fully understood. “You can carry firearms here sometimes” is a confusing message. For example, a worshipper might think that because they can carry their gun on Sunday, they could carry it to Wednesday night bible study when in fact there was an after school activity at the same time.

In addition, allowing worshippers to carry guns in religious places of worship does not reduce the risk of tragedy, it increases it. Worshippers are made less safe by the presence of firearms, which may fire accidentally;3-5 be used in a chaotic shootout,6 or, in the case of a January 3, 2021 Texas church shooting, a gun owner may be disarmed by another, who then uses it on the gun owner and others.7

Your Senator needs to hear from you TODAY about your opposition to S.B. 43! If you would like some more information on the bill, here is a fact sheet.

Thank you for speaking out to protect school children from gun violence.
--Becky and Sara
 

P.S.  If you are a faith leader, please sign on to this letter voicing your opposition to S.B. 43 with faith leaders from throughout the state. The deadline is March 1st. If you belong to a faith community, please consider forwarding this email to your faith leader.

 

 

1 Senate Bill 43. North Carolina General Assembly. 2021-2022 Session. https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/S43
2 Drane K. Every incident of mishandled guns in schools. March 2, 2020. https://bit.ly/3dXVex2
3 Shapiro E. During discussion about guns in church, man accidentally shoots himself, wife: Police. November 17, 2017. http://abcn.ws/39FfhkL
4 Jorgensen M. Church security guard injured in Lancaster County after another guard’s gun was ‘unintentionally discharged. February 10, 2020. http://bit.ly/3rhCIa0
5 Reavy P. Gun goes off in Provo church, sending bullet into classroom of teens. September 17, 2018. http://bit.ly/3arTsEv.
6 Price M. ‘Brazen’ shootout at church funeral service leaves 18-year-old dead, NC police say. November 11, 2020. http://bit.ly/39DGfcG
7 Madani D, Kesslen B, Stelloh T. Pastor killed, two other people injured in Texas church shooting. Jan 3, 2021. http://nbcnews.to/3oIRNiU

 

 

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North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Action Fund
PO Box 52425, Durham, NC 27717
919-391-5809 | [email protected]

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