Governor Stein Proclaims North Carolina S.A.F.E. Week

North Carolina S.A.F.E. Week Of Action

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, responsible firearm owners who use safe storage devices and practices are critical to preventing firearm-related theft, violence, death, suicide, and injury; and 

Whereas, the NC S.A.F.E (Secure All Firearms Effectively) initiative has been established through partnership between the Governor's Office and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and further informed by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services as a resource to educate North Carolinians on safe storage and responsible firearm ownership; and 

Whereas, the NC S.A.F.E. initiative has distributed more than 160,000 gun locks and hundreds of gun safes statewide, sharing the importance of safe firearm storage with thousands of North Carolinians through community events, partnerships, and outreach; and 

Whereas, firearm deaths are persistent and tragic outcomes in our state and nation; an average of five North Carolinians die per day from firearm injuries; and rates of firearm violence and injury are increasing statewide and nationally; and 

Whereas, firearm injuries have surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for children; more than 1,320 juveniles statewide were charged with firearm-related offenses in North Carolina in 2025, and 176 instances of school-based offenses involving firearms were recorded during the same time period; and 

Whereas, 42 percent of North Carolinians keep a firearm in or around their home, and at least 24 percent of North Carolinians with loaded firearms at home keep them unlocked; communities that practice safe storage report a 59 percent decrease in unintentional deaths due to firearms; and an estimated 32 percent of youth firearm suicide and unintentional deaths could be prevented through safe storage; and 

Whereas, firearm deaths present a statewide crisis of public safety and public and mental health; more than two-thirds of all violent deaths in 2021 were firearm-related; more than half of firearm-related deaths are suicides; and veterans are among the highest rates of firearm suicides compared to the general population; and 

Whereas, approximately 32 percent of middle school students and 30 percent of high school students report they can access a loaded gun in less than an hour without a parent or other adults’ permission; and 

Whereas, every North Carolinian who owns a firearm should be encouraged to practice safe storage and responsible firearm ownership, since securing a firearm using a safe storage device can prevent theft, violent crime including school shootings, accidental shootings, suicide, and improper use of firearms by youth, thereby creating safer homes and communities;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 1 – 7, 2026, as “North Carolina S.A.F.E. Week Of Action” in our state and commend its observance to all residents.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this fourteenth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.