We Don't Know Much But We Are Going To Call For More Gun Control

I got an email today from North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (sic), a wholly owned subsidiary of Everytown, regarding the murders on the campus of UNC-Charlotte yesterday. The email epitomizes their "call to action" strategy even when we know next to nothing about the murderer, the victims, etc.

Yesterday, two people lost their lives and four were injured by a mass shooter at UNC Charlotte. North Carolinians Against Gun Violence mourns with their families, friends, and communities.

“Every shooting is a human tragedy and my prayers are with the victims and their families,” said Becky Ceartas, Executive Director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. “Today’s awful events are yet another urgent call to action to prevent this from happening again.”

While this story is still developing and we do not have much information about the shooter, including how he got his gun, we do know that certain gun reforms need to happen in our state. Specifically, we need to keep our college campuses and K-12 schools free of guns, retain our background check system on all handgun sales (pistol purchase permitting system), and preserve our concealed-carry weapons permitting system.

“We ask North Carolinians to join us in mourning those lost in this horrific act. And we ask North Carolinians to act with us to help prevent this from happening again,” said Ceartas.

For those that are not North Carolinians you might not know that university campuses are officially gun-free zones. North Carolina General Statute § 14-269.2. deals with this and makes it a Class I felony to carry openly or concealed any firearm on campus. Firing the gun is a Class F felony.

I have written extensively about the racist roots of the North Carolina's pistol purchase permit system. It was instituted in 1919 as a means to keep African-Americans and especially those that were veterans returning from World War I disarmed. I can think of few other laws that were conceived in racism that still command the devotion and loyalty of progressives as do gun control laws.

About the only things about this heinous crime is the shooter's name, his age (22), that he was a former UNC-C student, his victim's names and ages, and that he was taken alive. We don't know how the murderer obtained his firearm, his motive, or virtually anything else other than a statement from his grandfather that said he'd never shown any interest in firearms before and one from campus police saying he wasn't on their radar.

So you have two murders (illegal), four attempted murders (illegal), and a total disregard for state law on carrying on campus (illegal) but yet we need to act so as to "prevent this from happening again." Other than legalizing campus carry which is anathema to NCGV, I don't see how any new law is going to prevent such crimes. Can you?