New federal fund unlikely to improve prospects of red flag law in NC
A bipartisan federal gun control bill signed into law last week includes $750 million to help states pay for red-flag or extreme-risk programs.
However, WRAL News found Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina don't seem to be swayed by the prospect of new federal money. They say it would infringe on people's Second Amendment rights.
Red-flag or extreme-risk protective orders allow authorities or family members in some states to ask courts to temporarily take away guns from a person who’s believed to be a danger to themselves or others. The gun owner then has a court hearing within a short timeframe to try to get their guns back. The removal can last up to a year in most states.
The idea has strong popular support. In a WRAL News Poll this month, 87% of respondents favored passing a red flag law in this state.
Nineteen other states and the District of Columbia have passed them.
House and Senate leaders didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday about whether the new federal funding has changed their minds about considering a red flag law. North Carolina lawmakers haven’t seriously discussed the possibility of such a law in the past.
“We just haven't had the political will to get a red flag law passed,” said State Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham.
Morey has been filing red-flag bills for six years. They’ve never even gotten a hearing. Morey said she tried to meet with House Speaker Tim Moore after the Uvalde school shooting to talk about it, but he wouldn’t even discuss it.
“That's right. I said, ‘let me come to your office. I'll talk to you about any common-sense gun measures. This being one, safe storage—let's just have a dialogue about it,’” Morey said.
House Speaker Tim Moore earlier this month confirmed he's not interested in adding a red-flag law in North Carolina.
“The issue is, a lot of the legislation that's being pushed by those on the political left is really just gun control,” Moore said. “It would simply take guns away from law- abiding citizens.”
Researchers at the University of California-Davis examined 201 gun violence restraining orders filed in the three years after California’s red-flag law had been enacted. The researchers found that about 30% of the cases were related to mass-shooting threats. Several of them involved minors who had targeted schools, the study said.
Such restraining orders were also found to be effective in preventing self-harm, the study found, and no suicides occurred among those subject to orders. A study of cases in Connecticut and Indiana, published in the journal Psychiatric Services, had similar findings.
Morey said her bill wouldn’t take any guns away permanently, and the gun owner would get their day in court.
Morey doesn't think this will be the year state lawmakers decide to take up the issue.
