Shooting in Asheville North Carolina

April 20, 2018

TO: Members of the Media

DATE: April 19, 2018

RE: Shooting in Asheville North Carolina

Last night, in Asheville North Carolina, a 10-year-old boy called 911 to report that his mother’s boyfriend had opened fire at the family’s home. Ashville Police report that the 35-year-old shooter got into an argument with his girlfriend at the Ashville hospital where she worked. Later, he shot his girlfriend and her five children in their home, killing the 32-year old mother and two teenagers, a 15-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, before shooting himself. The 10-year-old boy who dialed 911 was grazed by a bullet, a 12-year-old child is reported to be in stable condition with a leg wound, while an 8-year-old was also treated for a graze wound.

This shooting is the latest, tragic example of how intimate partner violence combined with access to firearms is a deadly mix. Research shows the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely the woman will die. Gaps in federal law that allow abusers and stalkers to purchase and possess guns are a key driver of the staggering levels of lethal violence against women in the United States.

Background on Gun Laws and Domestic Violence

Federal law prohibits purchase and possession of firearms and ammunition by people who have been convicted in any court of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” and/or who are subject to certain domestic violence protective orders. Many states have adopted laws that duplicate and go further than federal law by more comprehensively restricting access to firearms and ammunition by domestic abusers.

Under North Carolina law, a court that grants a domestic violence protective order may prohibit a party from purchasing a firearm for a time fixed in the order. If a person is subject to an emergency or ex parte domestic violence protective order, the court must order the defendant to surrender to the sheriff all firearms, ammunition, permits to purchase firearms, and permits to carry concealed firearms if the court finds any of the following factors:

The use or threatened use of a deadly weapon by the defendant or a pattern of prior conduct involving the use or threatened use of violence with a firearm against persons;

Threats to seriously injure or kill the aggrieved party or minor child by the defendant;

Threats to commit suicide by the defendant; or

Serious injuries inflicted upon the aggrieved party or minor child by the defendant.

State law requires that, upon service of a domestic violence order that requires such surrender, the defendant must immediately surrender to the sheriff possession of all firearms, ammunition, permits to purchase firearms, and permits to carry concealed firearms that are in the care, custody, possession, ownership, or control of the defendant. In the event that weapons cannot be surrendered at the time the order is served, the defendant must surrender the firearms, ammunition, and permits to the sheriff within 24 hours of service at a time and place specified by the sheriff.

Note, however, that North Carolina has no law:

Requiring the removal or surrender of firearms from the scene of a domestic violence incident; or
Prohibiting individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition, although:
- Federal law applies;
- A 2015 state law makes these individuals ineligible for a concealed handgun permit ; and
- A 2015 state law requires fingerprinting of some misdemeanants, and recording of the relationship between certain perpetrators and their victims, to assist in identification of these misdemeanants. 1

Background About the Effects of Gun Violence on Children

A study of 23 high-income countries found that 91 percent of kids under 14 years old who are shot and killed lived in the United States.
Guns are now the t hird-leading cause of death for all Americans under age 18.
For Americans ages 14–17, the rate of lifetime exposure to shootings (including hearing gunshots as well as seeing someone shot) is 17%.
Nearly 60% of all high school students report fears of a shooting at their community or school.
Nearly 40% of children exposed to a shooting will develop PTSD.
Children exposed to gun violence often experience decreased performance on academic and aptitude tests. First-graders who were exposed to violence and experience high levels of trauma-related distress had significantly lower IQ and reading ability scores. Additionally, third- through eighth-graders exposed to high levels of neighborhood violence had significantly lower scores on both math and reading achievement assessments, compared to peers who weren’t exposed to violence.
Youth exposed to gun violence are more likely to resort to violence to resolve conflict or express emotion. One study noted that seventh- and eighth-grade students who reported direct exposure to gun violence had a 36% increase in the number of recent aggressive episodes.
In real economic terms, the annual cost of gun violence to children alone is at least $21 billion.

Background About North Carolina Gun Laws

North Carolina received a D- in our most recent annual gun law scorecard. Among other things, North Carolina requires all handgun purchasers to first obtain a license, after undergoing a background check. However, North Carolina does not:

Require a person to undergo a background check prior to purchasing a long gun from an unlicensed seller;
Prohibit the transfer or possession of assault weapons, 50 caliber rifles, or large capacity ammunition magazines ;
License or significantly regulate firearms dealers ;
Limit the number of firearms that may be purchased at one time;
Require firearm owners to report lost or stolen firearms ;
Regulate unsafe handguns ;
Regulate ammunition sales ;
Allow local governments to regulate firearms or ammunition; or
Provide local law enforcement with discretion to deny a license to carry firearms.

In 2016, North Carolina had the 21st highest rate of gun deaths per capita among the states. North Carolina had the 25th highest rate of crime gun exports among the states in 2016—meaning that crime guns originally sold in North Carolina were recovered after being used in crimes in other states at the 25th highest rate among the states.

North Carolina was the site of multiple crucial defensive victories by gun safety advocates in 2017, as dangerous campus carry and permitless carry bills failed to advance, as did efforts to repeal the state’s background check requirement for handgun purchases.

Research, Data & Related Studies

The presence of a gun can turn already perilous domestic violence situations fatal. Of the 1,352 intimate partner homicides in 2015, 55% were committed with firearms.
Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser has access to a gun.
An Everytown analysis of mass shootings from 2009 to 2016 shows that:
- in 54 percent of mass shootings, the shooters killed intimate partners or other family members.
- 25 percent of all mass shooting fatalities were children. In shootings involving domestic or family violence, children made up more than 40 percent of those killed.
- In nearly half the shootings – 42 percent of cases – the shooter exhibited warning signs in advance of the shooting, indicating they posed a danger to themselves or others.
16 percent of mass shooters from 2009 to 2015 had previously been charged with domestic violence [ New York Times ]

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Giffords is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, Giffords inspires the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer.

For nearly 25 years, the legal experts at Giffords Law Center to Prevent G un Violence have been fighting for a safer America by researching, drafting, and defending the laws, policies, and programs proven to save lives from gun violence.