We appreciate that the News and Observer ran my op-ed today educating the public about the dangers of HB 398, the bill that would repeal our Pistol Purchase Permitting system.

"If North Carolinians wake up five or 10 years from now and learn that their state has higher rates of gun violence than in the past, we can point to the repeal of our handgun licensing system this session as a major reason why."

We can't let that happen. Read the op-ed and take action today!
--Becky

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John,

Urgent! Gun extremists in the NC General Assembly are trying to fast track the repeal of NC’s life-saving Pistol Purchase Permit (PPP) system. Repeal would put us in danger. Please contact your NC Representative now to stop House Bill 398! 

Repealing NC’s Pistol Purchase Permitting system would abolish the requirement that all handgun purchasers pass a criminal background check, no matter where they are buying the handgun – even at a gun show or on the Internet. 

That’s a problem: Nationally, 22% of gun owners purchase guns without a background check. The same study found that in states without regulations on private firearm sales 57% of firearms purchases from a private seller did not include a background check.(1) If we repeal our PPP, many people in NC who now undergo background checks could buy handguns at gun shows or online without a background check.

Please contact your Representative right now and tell her/him to stop this bill!

 

Why do we need to keep NC’s Pistol Purchase Permit system the way it is? Because it saves lives. Below is some background on how purchase permit systems (sometimes called licensing systems) save lives:

  • Currently, everyone who buys a handgun in NC – even at a gun show or online – must undergo a background check as part of the Pistol Purchase Permit application.(2,3)
  • After Missouri repealed its Permit-to-Purchase (PTP) system in 2007, its annual firearm homicide rate spiked by 23% during the period 2008 – 2010, while none of the states bordering Missouri nor the US average saw similar increases during the same period.(4)   
  • Connecticut’s PTP law, passed in 1995, was associated with a 28% decline in Connecticut’s firearm homicide rate and a 33% decrease in their suicide rate from 1996 – 2017.(5)
  • States with the strongest firearm laws - including states with PTP laws – are associated with lower firearm-related death rates than states without these laws, even after controlling for economic, demographic, and other differences across states.(6)
  • A study of homicide in large urban counties found that PTP laws were associated with an 11% reduction in firearm homicide.(7)
  • Research shows that states with PTP laws have fewer firearms trafficked in-state and used in crimes.(8,9)

Contact your Representative now and tell them we need to KEEP NC’s Pistol Purchase Permitting system!

Thank you!
Becky & Sara 

 

 

  1. Miller M, et al. Firearm acquisition without background checks. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2017 Feb 21; 166(4):233-239. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M16-1590 
  2. NC General Statute 14-402.  Sale of certain weapons without permit forbidden. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-402.html 
  3. NC General Statute 14-403. Permit issued by sheriff; form of permit; expiration of permit. https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-403.html 
  4. Webster D, Crifasi CK, Vernick JS. Erratum in: Effects of the repeal of Missouri's hand-gun purchaser licensing law on homicides. Erratum in: Journal of Urban Health. 2014 Jun;91(3):598-601. . https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24604521/#&gid=article-figures&pid=fig-1-uid-0   
  5. McCourt A, Crifasi C, Vernick J, Kagawa R, Wintemute G & Webster D. Purchaser licensing, point-of-sale background check laws, and firearm homicide and suicide in 4 US states, 1985–2017. American Journal of Public Health. 2020. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305822   
  6. Fleegler EW, et al. Firearm legislation and firearm-related fatalities in the United States. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2013 May 13;173(9):732-40. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23467753/ 
  7. Crifasi CK, et al. Correction to: Association between Firearm Laws and Homicide in Urban Counties. Journal of Urban Health. 2018 Oct;95(5):773-776. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6181823/ 
  8. Webster DW, Vernick JS, Hepburn LM. Relationship between licensing, registration, and other gun sales laws and the source state of crime guns. Injury Prevention. 2001 Sep;7(3):184-9. https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/7/3/184
  9. Collins T, Greenberg R, Siegel M, Xuan Z, Rothman EF, Cronin SW, Hemenway D. State Firearm Laws and Interstate Transfer of Guns in the USA, 2006-2016. Journal of Urban Health. 2018 Jun;95(3):322-336. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5993697/   

 

 

 

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North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Action Fund
PO Box 52425, Durham, NC 27717
[email protected]

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