A North Carolina Highway Patrol officer demonstrates how to attach a gunlock (Photo: Screenshot from NC SAFE video — https://www.ncsafe.org/)
Earlier this month, North Carolina legislators returned home after a busy session in which they passed bills on everything from banning masking to allowing takeout cocktails.
I know it’s hard to compete with mobile margaritas, but I can’t help but feel like our priorities are out of whack. So many other important initiatives got left behind, like funding for NC S.A.F.E – a statewide educational awareness initiative to help folks secure firearms effectively– as well as funding for CVIs– community violence intervention programs.
These aren’t controversial programs. They keep toddlers from accidentally shooting a sibling and the depressed from succumbing to suicide. They provide job opportunities to folks who may otherwise turn to violent crime and gun locks to parents who need to childproof their home.
Initially, the North Carolina General Assembly got behind these programs, passing legislation last year that created a safe storage awareness initiative. But the Republican majority eventually got cold feet, failing to devote any funding to the program.