Gun reform is at the forefront of discussions for midterm elections this year as many of the candidates for District 4, which includes Raleigh, have a common goal of decreasing gun violence in the US.
Four candidates for the District 4 US Congressional seat all talked about their diverse opinions on how the issue of gun control should be approached: Lee Brian, a Republican, as well as David Price (incumbent), Richard Watkins and Michelle Laws, all three Democrats.
Candidates’ stance on firearm legislation
Many of the candidates are in support of policies in regards to gun reform; however, opinions diverge in terms of how far legislation should go and the measures that should be taken in Congress.
While Brian is in support of gun reform to decrease violence, she is concerned with the restrictions of gun rights.
“I’m a big proponent for guns,” Brian said. “The one thing that I did see that I liked that the government was trying to do was extend the ability to carry firearms across states. From a federal point of view, that’s nice because it protects individuals from other states who are on the job, for example the FBI. They are federal employees. They have to have a weapon on the job.”
Brian is a supporter of the second amendment, but is also in favor of so-called “common-sense” gun reform as it relates to tightening already existing regulations. She said that a reconciliation between the two is an attainable goal.
“Outside of removing them all together, we have to find some other way of being able to protect the individual and law enforcement and make sure that all the illegal sales stop completely in order for everyone to feel safe,” Brian said. “That is just something that’s tough to do.”
Watkins said that the gun violence issue is a ticking time bomb and needs to be addressed quickly with legislation because he believes that violence caused by guns has increased significantly over the past years.
“We have to put better measures of control on firearms; it has gotten out of control,” Watkins said. “Since 1999, [there have been] over 200 school shootings, and that’s not even talking about mass shootings — just school shootings. So, we obviously need to reduce the number of guns.”
Watkins said that he would like to enact legislation that the Democratic Party has been espousing in regards to gun control, including strengthening existing regulations.
“I would support legislation that would increase background checks to include domestic violence abusers,” Watkins said. “I would support legislation to close gun show loopholes that allow people to forgo background checks. I would support legislation for an assault rifle ban, and I would also support legislation to increase the age of firearm purchases to 21.”
Laws, the other Democratic challenger to Representative Price, said that this isn’t political for her, it’s personal. With connections to those affected by gun violence, she has a personal stake in the issue.
“My sister was killed in a murder-suicide, and they left behind a child,” Laws said. “This issue should be center stage in the public square for debate. I’m a proponent for stricter laws.”
Laws said that she would make sure that there are laws in order to help children in communities that experience gun violence regularly.
“We are looking at this from a broad perspective, but [we need to] figure out how to stop what culminates in the tragedies we’ve seen,” Laws said. “This conversation has to be larger, and yet some people refuse to. I would advocate for laws to provide better opportunities for kids to protect them from gangs in cities; children become socially isolated and marginalized.”
Price, the current representative for District 4, said the problem is unique to the U.S. and advocated for stronger “common sense” gun reform.
“We are not the only modern country with domestic violence or mental health issues, but we are the country where that most often gets translated into violent crime via guns” Price said. “The guns are a major part of the issue here, and we have to have sensible rules that keep guns out of the wrong hands and keep weapons of mass killing off the streets.”
Candidates’ viewpoints on arming teachers
Other states, including Florida, have advanced legislation to arm teachers with weapons as a possible solution to the problem of school shootings. As the public focus has shifted to this proposal, candidates were asked what they thought of the idea. While the democrats were uninspired by the idea, Brian was not entirely opposed.
“I think if the teachers feel like it’s necessary to carry, they need to start talking to their state legislature, or consider having friends and family run for office,” Brian said. “… If everybody is under the consensus that teachers can, the only thing I would want to do is make sure that they are mentally competent.”
Across the aisle, all three democrats firmly oppose any legislation to arm teachers. Watkins said that the suggestion that arming teachers is a not viable solution.
“That is a terrible idea,” Watkins said. “You’re talking to a black man. If teachers were armed when I was in school, I might not be here talking to you today. Black boys in particular don’t fare very well as far as punishment is concerned in some of our schools.”
Laws said that the idea of arming teachers was not legislation she would support. Laws would rather have money allocated elsewhere.
“I am not in favor of arming teachers, period,” Laws said. I think we should be increasing pay. I am not in favor of increasing the availability of firearms, especially around children.”
Congressman Price is baffled by the proposal to arm teachers. He said he thinks it would be a nightmare, leading to schools overflowing with guns.
“I think that we should have reasonable security measures at schools, which will often include resource officers,” Price said. “We need to have heightened awareness of what to do in the case of an emergency among students and teachers. But the notion that you would arm teachers and what, have teachers presumed to keep a gun in their desk?”
Primaries will be held on May 8. People who are not registered in Wake county can register to vote during the one-stop early voting period in a process called Same-Day Registration. Students can download a Voter registration form to register for the November midterms here.
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Michelle Laws is a democrat running for the US House of Representatives for District 4.
