5 Calls

Support the Protecting our Kids Act and Demand Additional Action on Gun Safety - Passed House

UPDATE (06/08/22): With a 223-204 vote, the House has passed H.R. 7910. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.

In the wake of the horrific massacres in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX, House Democrats quickly proposed an emergency gun safety bill to attempt to provide some common sense reforms. The Protecting our Kids Act, H.R. 7910, makes minor but needed changes to current gun safety regulations. The bill would:

• raise the age for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 years old;
• make it illegal to import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess large-capacity magazines;
• establish requirements for the safe storage of firearms in homes;
• require existing bump stocks to be registered and ban the sale and possession of bump stocks; and
• apply current federal firearms regulations to ghost guns.

While all of these proposed measures are a good first step, they fail to address the major common sense reforms which are overwhelmingly popular in America regardless of party affiliation. These include universal background checks (81% in support), preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns (87% in support), creating a federal database for all gun sales (66% in support), and completely banning assault-style weapons (63% in support).

Any reform of our gun safety laws is a welcome adjustment, but Congress must do more to address the gun violence epidemic ravaging our country. Demand Congress not only pass H.R. 7910 but also continue to work to pass more meaningful gun safety laws.