SEATTLE, WA – In response to remarks by President Biden, Vice President Harris and the Attorney General this morning, Alliance for Gun Responsibility CEO Renée Hopkins issued the following statement: 

“Today is a day that has been decades in the making. As Vice President Harris said, ‘We aren’t waiting for a tragedy [to address gun violence]…we aren’t waiting for solutions…All that is left is the will and the courage to act. And President Joe Biden has the will and the courage to act.’

The President’s actions include:

• The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of ghost guns.
• The Justice Department will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act.
• The Justice Department will publish model Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPOs) legislation for states.
• The Administration is investing in evidence-based community violence interventions.
• The Justice Department will issue an annual report on firearms trafficking.
• The President will nominate GVP advocate David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

We have already seen many of these policies come to fruition in Washington state. In 2014, we closed the gun show loophole, created ERPOs in 2016, prohibited ghost guns in 2019 and last year we helped create an Office of Firearm Violence Prevention which invests in community violence intervention programs and more.

Through the Washington state legislature and ballot initiatives, Washington has proven itself a national leader in gun violence prevention. We know that these policies work and it is past time to see them implemented on the national level.

President Biden also called on Congress to take immediate action to combat this public health issue. Specifically, he urged lawmakers to:

• Close the gun show loophole;
• Close the Charleston loophole;
• Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA);
• Ban assault weapons; and
• Hold gun manufacturers accountable.

President Biden and Vice President Harris ran on the strongest gun violence prevention platform in history, earning the Alliance for Gun Responsibility Victory Fund’s first-ever presidential endorsement. The Alliance joined more than 80 other gun violence prevention organizations to urge the President and Vice President to take action during their first 100 days in office.

We urge Congress to follow suit and pass the policies outlined by the Biden administration. These Executive Orders have laid a foundation for meaningful change in the fight to prevent gun violence and lawmakers should not squander this historic opportunity to act.”

See the White House’s fact sheet on today’s announcement here.

Watch a video of the White House event here.

###