President Biden’s leadership got Congress to pass the first gun reform legislation in decades, and the new law has kept 500 dangerous people under age 21 from legally purchasing guns.
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Leads To Fewer Dangerous People Legally Getting Guns
In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, President Biden said:
Today is an important milestone in the fight to end the epidemic of gun violence tearing the fabric of our nation apart. Thanks to the enhanced background checks enacted by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Justice Department has now successfully denied more than 500 illegal gun purchases by people under 21 years old who presented a danger to our communities.
This historic legislation is working to keep guns out of the hands of young people who shouldn’t have them in the first place, for common sense reasons like criminal records or because they have been determined to be a danger to themselves or others. By interrupting these illegal gun purchases, we are taking action to stop suicides, deadly domestic violence, and mass shootings. Simply put: this legislation is saving lives. And it’s part of my broader plan to reduce crime and make our communities safer, including through my American Rescue Plan, which enabled cities and states to invest $15 billion to improve public safety. There’s more work to do, but we’re making real progress: there was a significant drop in crime in 2023 – including one of the largest-ever yearly declines in homicides in history.
I am proud to have taken more executive action than any president in history to combat gun violence in America, and I will never stop fighting to get even more done. Congress must enact universal background checks, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, end the gun industry’s immunity from liability, and pass a national red flag law. There are already too many empty seats around family tables. It is fully within our power to stop this epidemic.
Protecting The Second Amendment While Making It More Difficult For Dangerous People To Get Guns
Republicans and the NRA have used a false binary choice on the issue of guns. Republicans frame the discussion about preventing mass shootings as an either/or choice. Either every American gets easier access to guns, or no one gets access to guns.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act shows that it is possible to both protect the Second Amendment for responsible gun owners and take steps to make it more difficult to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people who should not be able to legally purchase them.
It is impossible to know if any of these 500 individuals under age 21 were on their way to becoming mass shooters. but if this legislation helps to prevent one mass shooting or suicide, it will have done its job.
Having a president who makes it a priority to use the power of his office to do things for the American people makes a big difference.
Donald Trump used the presidency to enrich himself. Joe Biden has used the same office to make a difference in the lives of the American people.
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