Executive Order Establishes “Office of Violence Prevention”

I don’t know what it is with Democrats in the executive branch, both state and Federal, but they love their executive orders. On the same day that President Joe Biden released a new executive order on gun control, Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) released Executive Order No. 279 which established the North Carolina Office of Violence Prevention. While I have no confirmation that they were coordinated, I’d be very surprised if they were not.

Bloomberg’s North Carolinians Against Gun Violence (sic) was all a-twitter about this. They sent out a long gushing email and included a picture of Cooper signing the EO.

From NCGV’s missive:

North Carolinians Against Gun Violence and our coalition partners commend Governor Cooper for signing an Executive Order creating an Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) today. This is the first such office in the South. NCGV’s coalition partners include:  Community Justice Action Fund, Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, Giffords, Equal Justice USA, Gate City Coalition, Boots on the Ground, NC Black Alliance, MomsRising, and the North Carolina Council of Churches….

Becky Ceartas said, “Today the Governor further demonstrated his dedication to preventing gun violence by creating an Office of Violence Prevention. He is focused on promoting evidence based public health solutions. Preventing gun violence takes a multifaceted approach. Coordination among state agencies and supporting grassroots programs are critical to addressing this problem. We need to address the root causes of gun violence.”

I note that Attorney General Josh Stein (D-NC) who would like to be Cooper’s successor is in the picture on the far right. Ceartas of NCGV was relegated to the back row and you can see her peering over the shoulder of the bearded African-American gentleman.

The Executive Order establishes two new organizations. First, there is the Office of Violence Prevention which will be a part of the Department of Public Safety. Second, it also establishes a Community Violence Advisory Board. The former is charged with working with existing North Carolina agencies such as Department of Health and Human Services and the new Community Violence Advisory Board.

The EO states that the Office of Violence Prevention may engage in activities that align with its mission. These include “offering training and technical assistance; issuing best practice guidance and model processes; facilitating cross-jurisdictional information sharing; conducting public awareness campaigns; sharing data and collaborating with research institutions; and identifying and applying for funding from federal and philanthropic sources.”

I can easily imagine monies will be sourced from the various Bloomberg Foundations as well as the Joyce Foundation and others. In terms of research institutions, I am sure Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Garen Wintemute’s program at U. Cal. – Davis will seek to be involved. I could foresee this morphing into the establishment of a new research program at one of the UNC constituent institutions as well.

Insofar as the Community Violence Advisory Board is concerned, the way the Executive Order is written, it would seem to preclude any involvement by those with real expertise in gun safety and violence prevention such as NSSF’s Project Childsafe, John Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center, and the like. It states that the members of the Advisory Board consists “of individuals dedicated to the mission of the Office.”

Much about this new Office of Violence Prevention is public relations fluff which will have no impact on either violence or policy. It is intended to make the gun control industry and its players happy. However, where it could be dangerous to our rights is through reports and advice used to provide support or window-dressing for gun control measures in the General Assembly. We need to keep an eye on them as well as their budget requests. Without money, they exist only on paper which is where they belong.