Biden sets up White House office on gun violence prevention
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[September 22, 2023]
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden is establishing a new
office of gun violence prevention at the White House to implement
existing laws and work with local authorities to pass gun safety
legislation at the state level, officials said on Thursday.
The new office will be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris and run
with the help of gun safety advocates who are joining the
administration, officials told reporters on a conference call.
"I’ll continue to urge Congress to take common sense actions that the
majority of Americans support like enacting universal background checks
and banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines," Biden, a
Democrat, said in a statement released by the White House.
"But in the absence of that sorely-needed action, the Office of Gun
Violence Prevention along with the rest of my Administration will
continue to do everything it can to combat the epidemic of gun violence
that is tearing our families, our communities, and our country apart,"
he said.
Biden and Harris will discuss the move during remarks in the White House
Rose Garden on Friday at 2:45 p.m. EDT.
Democrats largely favor stricter gun laws as a way to reduce deaths from
gun violence at schools and in cities across the country, and the issue
is likely to feature prominently in Biden's re-election campaign next
year.
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Republicans, with the support of the National Rifle Association, a gun
rights group, largely oppose stricter laws, citing the right to bear
arms established in the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.
In a rare show of bipartisanship on the issue, Republicans and Democrats
passed a package of modest gun safety measures last year, known as the
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and Biden has taken executive action
on the issue as well.
Establishing a new office of gun violence prevention has long been on
the wish list of anti-violence advocacy groups that were pleased with
Biden's record pushing for reforms but wanted the White House to do
more.
Putting it under Harris' purview also gives the vice president, who has
struggled to win over some Democrats in her role as Biden's No. 2, a
meaty policy area that is important and popular with their party's base.
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![](../images/092223PIX/news_a26.jpg)
A person holds a sign as spectators gather in the gallery of the
House Chamber during a special session on public safety to discuss
gun violence in the wake of the Covenant School shooting, at the
Tennessee State Capitol, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22,
2023. REUTERS/Cheney Orr/File Photo
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Harris said in a statement that the office would work to be
"engaging and encouraging Congressional leaders, state and local
leaders, and advocates to come together to build upon the meaningful
progress that we have made."
White House adviser Stefanie Feldman, Biden's staff secretary, will
serve as the director of the office, and gun safety advocates Greg
Jackson and Rob Wilcox will join the White House as her deputies.
"(Biden) believes that now is the moment to accelerate our work ...
which is why he is establishing this office," Feldman told
reporters.
She said the office would expedite implementation of the bipartisan
federal gun reform law that Biden signed last year, "dig deeper" to
find additional actions the administration can take, coordinate
support for communities affected by gun violence, and expand
partnerships with cities and states.
Gun safety groups welcomed the move.
"We are so pleased that the Biden administration has officially
created an Office of Gun Violence Prevention," said Kris Brown,
president of Brady, an advocacy group.
"Just as FEMA responds to hurricanes and earthquakes, we have
desperately needed a federal agency dedicated to responding to this
growing public health crisis," she said, referring to the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb;
Editing by Deepa Babington and Christopher Cushing)
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