NC Safe Storage Law
What is the NC Safe Storage Law?
The North Carolina law that concerns safe storage of firearms is §14-315.1. Storage of firearms to protect minors. This law is referred to as the NC Safe Storage Law.
The law says gun owners who live with a person under the age of 18 (a minor) must make sure the minor does not gain access to the firearm. The law speaks to the need to safely store firearms to avoid injury and death.
- (a) Any person who resides in the same premises as a minor, owns or possesses a firearm, and stores or leaves the firearm (i) in a condition that the firearm can be discharged and (ii) in a manner that the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised minor would be able to gain access to the firearm, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if a minor gains access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor's parents or a person having charge of the minor and the minor:
- Possesses it in violation of G.S. 14-269.2(b);
- Exhibits it in a public place in a careless, angry, or threatening manner;
- Causes personal injury or death with it not in self defense; or
- Uses it in the commission of a crime.
- (b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from carrying a firearm on his or her body, or placed in such close proximity that it can be used as easily and quickly as if carried on the body.
- (c) This section shall not apply if the minor obtained the firearm as a result of an unlawful entry by any person.
- (d) "Minor" as used in this section means a person under 18 years of age who is not emancipated. (1993, c. 558, s. 2; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 14, s. 11.)
Get a Free or Affordable Gun Lock
To get a Safety Kit with a free cable-style gun lock and safety instructions, contact the nearest Project ChildSafe office.
Get a Safety Kit (Project ChildSafe)
NC S.A.F.E. also provides information on how to securely store your firearm.
What to Know About Firearm Safe Storage
Safe storage of firearms reduces unintentional death, injury and hospitalization. When firearms are stored safely, they are less likely to be used for suicide or to harm others. This is especially true for children and youth.
Reduce Death, Injury and Hospitalization to Children and Youth
Children are curious. They want to learn about their world by touching and playing. If a child finds an unlocked, loaded gun, they might accidentally hurt themselves or others nearby. Storing firearms unloaded and locked away can prevent injuries and deaths. Use a cable lock or keep them in lock boxes or gun safes. This helps protect against curiosity and play.
Reduce Violence
Safe firearm storage can also prevent children and youth from accessing firearms and using them to injure or kill others.
Suicide attempts using a firearm are lethal
Reduce Suicide
"Many suicide attempts are hastily decided-upon and involve little or no planning. The particular means chosen for a suicide attempt may determine whether one who attempts suicide lives or dies. Access to firearms is a risk factor for suicide. 90% of those who attempt suicide and survive do not go on to die by suicide later. Firearms used in youth suicide usually belong to a parent. Reducing access to lethal means saves lives." 1
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Means Matter website from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/.
You are not alone.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, visit 988 Lifeline, call 988 or text 988 (for Spanish: text AYUDA to 988).
The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential.