Secure Storage in North Carolina
Gun owners in North Carolina must store guns securely to prevent unauthorized access by children and teens.
Gun owners in North Carolina who live with a child under age 18 may be subject to criminal penalties if:
- The gun owner stores a firearm in a condition that it can be discharged and in a manner that they should have known that an unsupervised child under age 18 would be able to gain access to it,
- A child under age 18 gains access to the firearm, and
- The child possesses the firearm unlawfully on school grounds, exhibits it in a public place in a careless, angry or threatening manner, causes personal injury or death with it, or uses it in the commission of a crime.
To avoid potential criminal liability under state law, gun owners should store firearms securely to prevent children from gaining unauthorized access to them.
Keeping Your Homes and Vehicles Safe with Secure Storage
If you’ve made the decision to bring a gun into your home, it’s important to know how responsible gun owners work to keep their families safe by mitigating the inherent risks associated with firearm ownership. Every responsible gun owner securely stores their guns so that they are inaccessible to children and other people who are at risk of harming themselves or others. Here’s why:
- More than 700 children die by gun suicide each year, most often using guns belonging to a family member.
- Nearly 360 children under the age of 18 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else each year.
- At least one-third of youth gun suicides and unintentional deaths could be prevented with increased secure storage.
- More than 200,000 guns are stolen from individuals every year—a significant portion of those are stolen from cars.
Safety is always an adult responsibility. Kids will be kids, so it’s always an adult’s responsibility to keep children safe. Always assume that curious or impulsive kids may find and touch an unsecured gun, even if they’ve been told not to. If a child handles a gun, a bad decision can quickly become a fatal one. Be SMART adults protect kids by making sure all guns are stored securely, which means they are inaccessible to kids, and by making sure children are never in the presence of unsecured guns.
The information provided here is not legal advice and should not be understood as such. Consult with an attorney if you have questions about how this law applies to your specific circumstances.