John,

Decision-makers from Raleigh to Washington, D.C., heard us on Saturday. As you may have heard, we’ve now got a rare chance at bipartisan progress with 20 Senators coming together across party lines. On Sunday, they agreed to a framework to help prevent gun violence and fund mental health services. 

Our North Carolina Senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, were a part of the group of 20. But, there’s still work to be done, and they need to hear from you. Will you write them today and encourage them to preserve the important gun violence prevention pieces in the final bill?

This framework is an important start,  John, but we want more. We know that community violence intervention programs are an important part of any solutions we find in Raleigh or Washington, D.C. As we ask our Senators to keep up the bipartisan work and make this framework law, we’re also calling for them to include funding for such programs in the final bill.

As it stands, the framework agreement includes:

• An enhanced background checks review process for 18-21-year-olds looking to purchase guns like rifles or shotguns
• Investment in child and family mental health services
• Incentives for states to adopt red flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them
• Accountability for people who evade requirements for federally licensed firearms dealers
• Penalties for when a person who can legally buy turns around and sells it to someone who can’t legally buy a gun (straw purchases).
• Closing the dating partner loophole. This loophole allows former or current dating partners convicted of domestic violence to still possess firearms. 

Board member Gerald Givens speaks at the Raleigh March for Our Lives in June 2022, leading the crowd of  hundreds in a chant: "If we can't be safe, we can't be free."

Communities across North Carolina and the country desperately need commonsense gun safety laws. These provisions in the framework are a good start. Now, it’ll take all of us to make sure they become law. Will you write our Senators today to encourage them to keep up the fight, add in funding for community violence intervention, and pass this bill?

Sincerely,

Becky Ceartas
Executive Director, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Action Fund