(Carolina Journal) – North Carolina House Democrats have filed 12 gun-safety bills this session, all of which are yet to be heard in committee.
Ahead of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday, they urged Republicans to advance their legislation.
On Tuesday, House and Senate Democrats held a joint press conference alongside the family of Emmanuel Gbedee. He's the Durham man shot to death while driving for Uber in Johnston County on Jan. 11, 2025.
“The platforms profiting from this work owe the people making it possible a basic duty of care, and they must be held accountable when they fail to provide it," said Imani Maatuka, reading a statement from Gbedee’s family.
Maatuka is the family's lawyer.
Rep. Zack Hawkins, D-Durham, said he is working on introducing legislation in January aimed at improving safety for rideshare drivers and passengers. He said he has had conversations with Gbedee’s family, county sheriffs, and district attorneys.
“Every driver deserves the opportunity to return home safely,” he said. “We owe it to the drivers and their families to have a serious conversation about safety, accountability, and what meaningful protections should look like moving forward.”
It wasn’t made clear how the bill on safety for Uber drivers would connect to gun safety, but Hawkins said the full bill language would be available next session. The discussion the shifted to House Democrats’ failed efforts to advance gun-safety legislation this session.
Among the bills introduced:
• Allow ERPOs to Prevent Suicides & Save Lives, known also as House Bill 166. This would authorize extreme risk protection orders, commonly known as red-flag laws.
• Firearm in Unattended Vehicle/Safely Store, known also as House Bill 167. This would make it a crime to leave a firearm in an unattended, unlocked motor vehicle.
• Safe Firearm Storage/Sales Tax Exemption, known also as House Bill 448. This would create a temporary sales tax exemption for firearm storage equipment.
“This should not be partisan; it should be bipartisan,” said Rep. Tracy Clark, D-Guilford. “We’re trying to keep our communities safe.”
Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, added that House Democrats have introduced similar legislation in previous sessions with little success.
Morey, who wore an orange shirt, a symbol of gun violence awareness and prevention, said she has attended similar events for years.
“I’ve been wearing this shirt for nine years,” she said. “We’ve introduced dozens of bills. None of them have gone to a committee.”
While House Democrats are pushing gun-safety bills, House Republicans point to firearm-safety initiatives and criminal-justice measures they have supported.
In a statement to the Carolina Journal, Demi Dowdy, a speaking for Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said House Republicans are focused on protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners. She said they support North Carolina’s Safe Storage Law, funding and promoting the NC S.A.F.E. initiative, distributing gun locks, expanding firearm-safety education, and working to keep guns out of the hands of children.
Meanwhile, she said Democrats’ proposals are “going nowhere.”
“It’s hard to take Democrats seriously on public safety when their track record shows a refusal to support legislation like Iryna’s Law that puts the safety of law-abiding citizens ahead of protecting criminals,” Dowdy said.
Jon Guze, senior fellow of legal studies at the John Locke Foundation, said policymakers should focus on enforcing existing laws against dangerous offenders rather than adopting additional firearm restrictions.
“If Democrats want to reduce gun violence, they should demand the rigorous enforcement of existing laws that prohibit convicted felons and other potentially dangerous people from possessing firearms,” he said.
Carolina Journal’s May 2026 poll found 11.9% of North Carolina likely voters identified crime and public safety as one of their top issue heading into the 2026 elections.
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