Are there religious exemptions to NC weapons laws? What to know about legal protections
.JPG "The entrance to UNC Charlotte on University City Boulevard is shown in this 2017 file photo. Chancellor Sharon Gaber apologized after police handcuffed a member of the Sikh religious community in the university’s student union on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022.")
A Sikh student being handcuffed at the University of North Carolina’s Charlotte campus for carrying a Kirpan put a spotlight on weapons laws and religious protections.
Despite instances like what happened in Charlotte, legal experts say there are protections and accommodations in place to protect the rights of Sikhs and others to practice their faiths.
Here’s what to know about the situation at UNCC and what the laws are in North Carolina surrounding articles of faith.
What happened at UNC Charlotte?
A person was handcuffed by a campus police officer on the UNCC campus last Thursday after someone called 911 to report a person with a knife in the school’s student union, The Charlotte Observer reported previously.
But the alleged knife was actually a Kirpan, one of multiple articles of faith in the Sikh religion.
Kirpans “resemble a knife or sword,” according to the Sikh Coalition, and “initiated Sikhs are required to carry” one “at all times.” “There is no prescribed length or sharpness for a Kirpan,” the group adds, and they’re “typically sheathed” and worn under one’s clothing with a strap.
Video of the incident was shared on social media by the young man who was handcuffed.
“I wasn’t going to post this, but I don’t think I will receive any support from @unccharlotte,” the student wrote on his Twitter video post. “I was told someone called 911 and reported me, and I got cuffed for ‘resisting’ because I refused to let the officer take my kirpan out of the miyaan. @CLTNinerNews.”
UNCC Chancellor Sharon Gaber apologized Friday in a statement that was also signed by UNCC chief diversity officer Brandon Wolfe.
They cited state law and university policy that bar people from carrying knives and “other edged instruments” on campus but added the school “will use this as a learning opportunity by engaging in constructive dialogue with Sikh students and employees.
Are there religious exemptions to NC weapons laws?
Sikhs have a legal right to carry Kirpans in public, Sikh Coalition senior counsel Harsimran Kaur told the Observer.
“The first thing to recognize is that the Kirpan is first and foremost an article of faith, and our country’s laws protect the right of people to peaceably practice their faith,” she said. “Courts across the country have consistently refused to find people wearing Kirpans guilty of weapons charges.”
In addition to freedom of religion — one of the five freedoms established in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — Kaur noted that other laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state-level religious freedom laws provide additional protections and accommodations to practicing Sikhs.
“A lot of this is based not on the letter of law but the way that the law is essentially interpreted to protect religious rights,” she added.
Kaur noted that her organization — founded in the wake of 9/11 to help protect the civil rights of the Sikh community — aims to help organizations such as universities develop “cultural competency” in order to avoid incidents like what happened at UNCC.
“We’re in a position where we have to proactively educate people about who we are and what our articles of faith stand for and what particularly the Kirpan stands for,” she said.
Many other items commonly found in spaces like college campuses and offices — such as scissors, kitchen knives and letter openers — “are oftentimes as or more dangerous” than Kirpans, Kaur explained.
“If people are allowed access to those things, it doesn’t make sense to disallow someone from, you know, wearing something that they’re doing for the purpose of complying with their religious beliefs,” she said.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Are there religious exemptions to NC weapons laws? What to know about legal protections."
