More state bureaucracy can help prevent gun violence, the Biden administration says in its new gun control push.
The White House rolled out its “Safer States Initiative” on Wednesday, with Vice President Kamala Harris taking center stage.
A fact sheet outlined the steps the Biden administration wants states to take, topped by establishing offices dedicated to gun violence prevention — like the one instituted at the White House in September.
The White House also said it was taking “executive action” by providing model legislation it said states should adopt to regulate how gun owners store their firearms and how lost or stolen guns are reported to authorities.
“These are all policies where the White House in this administration [has] made progress at the federal level,” said Stefanie Feldman, director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, according to Politico.
“We are going to continue to call on Congress to act, but in the meantime, we are going to be working hand in hand with states to advance all these agenda items.”
Feldman portrayed the White House initiative as a response to state needs.
“We’ve been meeting with state legislators ever since the start of our office, and one thing we hear all the time is they want to do more to reduce gun violence,” she said, according to The Hill.
The “Safe States Agenda” itself, an eight-page document, tells states what they should be doing and notes existing funding streams that they can use.
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“In the months ahead, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention will work with states to make sure they have the resources needed to advance this life-saving agenda,” the White House document says.
The White House wants states to “build and strengthen Crime Gun Intelligence Centers … to help generate leads, connect guns with multiple crime scenes, and identify gun trafficking channels.”
States that have American Rescue Plan funding lying around should use it to fund “community violence intervention” programs, the document says.
The document also addresses responsible gun ownership, background checks, and how states can respond to instances of gun violence, and closes with a strident section titled “Hold the Gun Industry Accountable.”
The section calls for states to impose Biden administration-supported gun control policies on their residents.
“In addition to banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, states should ban the possession of unserialized firearms, often referred to as ‘ghost guns,’” the document says.
The section also calls on states to impose more red tape on gun dealers and beef up their inspections of them.
Additionally, the agenda calls for state legislation to end the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that protects gun manufacturers from liability.
