Biden-Harris Unveil New GVP Proposals
Sept. 26, the Biden-Harris administration issued an Executive Order establishing an Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force, with measures including the development and implementation of an interagency strategy to prevent and intercept trade and trafficking of auto sears and other machine gun conversion devices.
In November 2020, GVP groups advised the incoming Biden-Harris administration to modernize the ATF’s approach to gun trafficking to account for 3D-printed and ghost guns, including a reporting “the number and percentage of firearms trafficking investigations that involved ghost guns, and the average number of ghost guns (versus firearms that are not ghost guns) involved in each case involving ghost guns”, among other findings.
Today’s actions reflect other longtime priorities and recommendations, including:
- Guidance and investment to strengthen America’s schools;
- Efforts to promote safe storage;
- Implementing Emergency Risk Protection Orders (Red Flag laws) in states;
- Collaboration to strengthen states’ background checks;
- Community Violence Intervention (CVI) funding;
- Actions to ensure Medicaid reimbursement for CVI;
- Addressing the trauma of gun violence through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and ReCAST programs;
- New reporting on ghost guns and gun trafficking; and
- Improved and expanded data collection and reporting on shootings and gunshot injuries.
“By expanding background checks, passing the first federal gun safety law in nearly 30 years with the Bipartisan Safer Communities, and creating the federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention that is a whole-of-government effort to address this crisis, President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership has saved lives. Today’s announcement only builds on their legacy of putting public safety first,” said former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in a statement.
GA Shooting leads Some to Reexamine Lax State Gun Laws
Following the mass shooting in Winder, GA on Sept 4, the worst in state history, some Georgians are speaking out for the need to reform the states notoriously lax gun laws.
Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Georgia as number 46 of 50 for the strength of its gun laws, describing the state’s measures as “some of the weakest” in the country. A number of gun-safety initiatives have died there in recent years, including a version of Alyssa’s Law, a nationwide initiative that would require all Georgia public schools to implement a panic button system, which was originally introduced to the legislature in 2023. But the bill was killed off in the Republican-majority House this year. Other measures that have died in the legislature include waiving the sales tax on the purchase of gun safes and trigger locks, giving gun owners a financial incentive to secure their firearms.
In 2022, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a ‘constitutional carry’ bill into law that expanded gun rights, allowing Georgians over the age of 18 to purchase a gun without a license. They don’t need to register their gun with the government, submit fingerprints, or undergo a background check. The gun can be carried out in the open or concealed.
Arms companies have donated heavily to Kemp’s campaigns for office.
Swiss Study Compares Gun-Owner Rates with U.S., Examines Why the Country has no Violence Epidemic
Switzerland is often cited in discussions about gun violence in the United States, with proponents of gun rights pointing out that the Swiss have relatively high gun ownership but very low rates of homicide and virtually no mass shootings. This comparison is sometimes used to argue that widespread access to firearms does not necessarily lead to high rates of gun-related violence.
However, a recent analysis by Wolfgang Stroebe and colleagues, published in the journal Aggression and Violent Behavior, argues that Switzerland’s unique gun culture, legal framework, and societal conditions play critical roles in keeping gun violence low, and that these factors are markedly different from those in the United States.Stroebe and his colleagues point out that Switzerland’s gun laws are much more restrictive than those in the U.S. In Switzerland, most men are required to serve in the military and may keep their service rifles at home, but the conditions are strict: firearms must be kept unloaded, and ammunition is stored separately.
Civilians who wish to purchase firearms must go through a rigorous process, including obtaining a permit, passing a background check, and proving they have no criminal history or risk factors for violence. Public carrying of firearms requires a separate permit.
National State-legislator Group Forms for Gun Violence Action
A group of state legislators, local politicians and nonprofits on Tuesday launched a national coalition that hopes to circumvent the congressional stalemate on gun reform by pressing for violence prevention efforts at the local level.
Legislators for Safer Communities is an independent, nonpartisan coalition of state legislators across all 50 states committed to reducing gun violence. The group includes more than 170 legislators from across the country, including CO Sen. Tom Sullivan (D-27), who is on the group’s steering committee.
The group says ‘We serve as a hub for legislative resources, professional messaging, strategy, research, and peer networking. By collaborating across state lines and engaging with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, we strive to create safer communities where every individual can thrive without fear of gun violence.”
New Bill Seeks to Avoid Servicemembers ‘Slipping Through Cracks’
A bill introduced after a mass shooting in Maine would require the Army to use state crisis intervention laws to remove the weapons of a service member who is deemed to be a serious threat to themselves or others, Sen. Susan Collins, the bill’s sponsor, said.
The Armed Forces Crisis Intervention Notification Act is aimed at addressing missed opportunities by military and civilian law enforcement to intervene before an Army reservist who had spiraled into psychosis opened fire at two locations in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others on Oct. 25, 2023.
The bill seeks to ensure communication between state agencies and military service branches after findings that the Army wasn’t as forthcoming as it could’ve been with state law enforcement officials about the gunman, 40-year-old Robert Card, before the shooting rampage. It requires the military to participate in state crisis actions, including so-called red flag or yellow flag laws aimed at removing weapons from someone who’s experiencing a psychiatric emergency.
Register to Vote!
It’s time to make sure you are properly registered and ready to vote this November!
If you are receiving this newsletter, you probably already know what a critical time this is for gun violence prevention legislation at the federal, state and local levels. As we have seen from recent Supreme Court decisions, your vote for candidates who support common-sense gun laws—and spreading the word among people you know—is more important now than ever. Register to vote here.
Like This Newsletter? Want to Pass it On?
We hope you find this newsletter valuable. The Gun Violence Prevention movement in Colorado is growing, but we still face major challenges–both from the gun lobby and in simply spreading awareness of the common-sense positions and education we work for. If you are interested in the news you see here and want to get involved, please consider volunteering! And if you want Colorado Ceasefire to continue acting as a voice and resource for Gun Violence Prevention in our state, we hope you’ll consider supporting us.
And feel free to subscribe and pass this news along to anyone else you think may be interested, either as a link or by cutting and pasting into your own newsletter (if forwarding, please take out the ‘unsubscribe’ message at the bottom first!)–this is how the movement grows. And remember, when we fight, we win!
