He states flatly that our current law "puts children in harm's way." "Two years ago, I partnered with the International Center for Research on Women, who helped me collect marriage data from across the state," Reisinger said. "We found 3,949 marriage license applications involving over 4,000 minors from 2000-2019, which puts North Carolina in the top five states with the highest rate of child marriage." Changes in the law are in the works and moving through the General Assembly this year. "The North Carolina Senate just passed a bill that would raise the marriage age to 16, while putting in place a four-year age gap maximum for any applicant that is a minor," Reisinger said. "So 49-year-olds would no longer be able to marry teenagers."