Raleigh courthouse shooting rekindles push for red-flag laws in North Carolina

A shooting last week outside a Raleigh courthouse is reviving a push for laws that would allow a court to confiscate firearms from people who are believed to be a threat to themselves or others.

Twenty-two states have laws allowing extreme risk protection orders, known as “red- flag” laws, which allow courts to temporarily restrict firearm access for people considered dangerous.

The laws generally allow a judge to make that determination and order a gun owner to surrender firearms and permits. It would also allow an appeals process.

Authorities say Gwendolyn White retrieved a handgun from her vehicle before shooting two lawyers outside a Wake County courthouse on Friday. Authorities said they later recovered multiple firearms from her home, including rifles. White has been charged in the shootings. 

Attempts to reach White and her current legal representative have been unsuccessful. 

Seth Blum, a lawyer who previously represented White, told WRAL that she called the police on her neighbors dozens of times. “Every time the police came out, they would investigate,” Blum said. “And Ms. White had this fixed belief that her neighbors were poisoning her through her air conditioning system, which there’s no evidence at all that that was true.”

Police alleged that White previously threatened a hospital and Blum described her as having an “untreated mental illness.”

“This case shows why this should be law,” said Wiley Nickel, a Democrat who is running unopposed for Wake County district attorney, referring to red-flag laws.

Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey, has introduced red-flag legislation since 2018, but the bills have not advanced in the Republican-led General Assembly.

“From just the news reports I’ve heard, I agree that this might have helped,” Morey said, referring to the White case. She said under her proposal, a judge could have been asked to temporarily remove firearms if concerns were raised about mental illness and access to guns.

Spokespeople for Senate leader Phil Berger did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall said Thursday: “This legislation is going nowhere” and criticized Democrats, including Morey, who voted against legislation last year that ramps up monitoring of alleged criminals with mental health problems, among other reforms.  Morey didn’t immediately provide a response to Hall’s comment.

Republicans and gun rights groups oppose the proposal, arguing it violates due process protections by allowing firearms to be removed based on allegations — before an actual criminal conviction. They also argue the focus should be on keeping repeat violent offenders and people in crisis off the streets, rather than restricting access to guns through civil court orders.

Paul Valone, president of gun-rights advocacy group Grass Roots North Carolina, said existing laws surrounding involuntary commitment and criminal enforcement should be used more aggressively instead of creating a new firearm restriction process. 

“They leave violent offenders on the streets, while confiscating firearms from lawful gun owners, in ex-parte hearings that defendants might not even know are occurring, much less get a chance to defend themselves in court,” Valone said.

Eighty-seven percent of respondents to a 2022 WRAL News poll supported red-flag laws.

Gov. Josh Stein has also supported similar restrictions. After a 2024 mass shooting in Southport, Stein said North Carolina needed a stronger response to “profoundly troubled” people and called for adoption of a red-flag law.

At the federal level, the debate intensified after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students dead. 

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., helped negotiate the bipartisan federal gun safety law signed by former President Joe Biden that encouraged states to adopt crisis intervention and red-flag programs.