Vice President Kamala Harris will return to North Carolina Thursday to talk about the Biden administration's efforts to reduce gun violence, according to the White House.
Harris will meet with educators, parents, gun safety advocates and elected officials in Charlotte on Thursday, the White House said.
CATS officials said Tuesday that her visit will likely cause delays on the LYNX Blue Line, and they will said they will provide updates for riders on their X account.
She will announce new funding for schools in North Carolina, and across the country, for getting more mental health resources to students. The funding will come from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the White House said.
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will join the vice president in the Queen City on Thursday. He tells Spectrum News 1 that combating this issue is a focus of their visit. They will be meeting with people who have experienced violence in schools.
Last year, the president named Harris to oversee the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. In December, the VP announced new initiatives to push states to pass laws requiring safe gun storage and laws for reporting lost and stolen firearms.
The first mass school shooting of the year in the United States was on Jan. 4. A teenage gunman killed a sixth-grader and injured five on the first day back to school for students in Perry, Iowa.
Issues over gun control and how to address mass school shootings will be sure to figure in the debate during this presidential election year.
Thursday's visit to North Carolina will be Harris's ninth trip to the Old North State since she became vice president. She visited Greensboro in September and was last in Charlotte in June to talk about reproductive rights.
She visits Charlotte at a time when local police say there is a rise in crime involving young people.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says shootings involving a juvenile suspect increased by a third last year.
The vice president will also announce $12 million in grants for North Carolina schools to be used to combat school violence.
The money comes from the bipartisan gun safety law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in 2022. (R) Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted for the bill as did all of North Carolina’s Democratic members of the House.
“Everyone talks about us needing to do more when there is an act of school violence. Well, this administration is stepping up and doing more. We’re providing dollars, and we’re here listening to folks, to hear what they think we need to be thinking about in D.C.,” Cardona said.