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N.C. Senate strengthens gun control laws
Already are some of the toughest in South
BY DEVIN ROONEY
STATE AND NATIONAL EDITOR
JUNE 19 A bill intended to
keep those with serious mental ill
ness who are involuntarily commit
ted from purchasing or possessing
guns is now under consideration by
die N.C. Senate.
The bill is sponsored by N.C.
Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland,
senate majority leader. It passed a
Senate Judiciary Committee by a
vote of 7 to 4 on June 12.
Gun control advocacy groups
consistently find that North
Carolina has the toughest gun
control laws of most states in the
Southeast.
Rand said he sponsored the bill
because it could make the state a
safer place.
“I thought that the public
deserved the protection that the
bill would offer,” he said.
N.C. Attorney General Roy
Cooper also has been a strong advo
cate of preventing the involuntarily
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committed from owning firearms.
“Stopping those with severe
mental illnesses from having guns
makes sense, and sharing the infor
mation can keep tragedies like
Virginia Tech from happening in
North Carolina,” Cooper stated in
a press release issued June 9.
The bill would require that peo
ple who are involuntary committed
are entered into a national database
used for issuing gun permits.
The change would bring the
state in line with a federal provi
sion that prohibits the involun
tarily committed from buying or
having guns.
Although the legislation would
prevent the involuntarily commit
ted from legally buying guns, it also
allows people who are no longer
deemed dangerous to appeal the
gun ban to the courts.
If a judge finds that the person has
recovered and a psychiatrist or quali
fied psychologist agrees, the right to
bear arms could be restored.
Welcome Beck
“I think it’s very important that we
recognize that there are people who are a
danger to themselves and others”
ELLIE KINNAIRD, N.C. SENATOR. D-ORANGE
Despite North Carolina’s reputa
tion for having strict gun laws, the
state has fallen behind neighboring
states in registering people who are
ineligible to buy guns.
Since the registry started in
1998, North Carolina has registered
466 people. Virginia has registered
80,000 people in that time.
Opponents of the bill have said
that it is unfair to people who
were involuntarily committed but
are not dangerous to the public
because they would also be put on
the registry.
But Rand said that he thinks
allowing people who were involun
tarily committed to own firearms
is especially dangerous because if
they commit a violent crime they
would have a ready excuse.
“It seems to me that they’d have
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a perfect defense, that they were
not responsible for their actions.”
N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-
Orange, said she also felt the leg
islation was an important step for
public safety in the state.
“I think it’s very important that
we recognize that there are people
who are a danger to themselves
and others,” she said.
Kinnaird said that the legisla
ture tried to pass similar measures
in the past but that the first bill
was opposed by advocates for the
mentally ill.
“The mental health community
was not happy with the solutions
we came up with. They felt that it
was stigmatizing and penalizing.”
Contact the State and National
editor at stntdesk@unc.edu
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008
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