September 22, 2023
So what did he do? Today — for the first time in US history – the President established the White House Office for Gun Violence Prevention.
The office will have four main responsibilities.
One — to make sure all gun laws are being implemented across the country including the bipartisan gun safety bill that was signed into law last year that extended background checks, expands the use of red-flag laws and expands access to mental health services and diversion programs.
If you want to know more about that law, the video is linked below.
Two – this new office will coordinate more support for survivors of shootings, their families and their communities. And that support is going to look a lot different than it has looked in the past.
Three – the office will identify new executive actions that the President can take within his legal authority to reduce gun violence.
And four – expand the coalition of partners in states, and local governments to get more gun prevention laws passed at the state and local level.
Obviously, these actions aren’t going to solve the gun issue in this country. Even many gun safety advocates say what the President did today doesn’t go far enough. But the fact is – there’s not a lot the president can do on his own. So the President ended his speech with a demand to Congress to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
Read more from the white house about the establishment of this new office here.
Watch the president’s announcement from today here.
My original story on what’s included in the bipartisan gun safety bill here
