Jason, it has been one year since President Biden and Vice President Harris created the first ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Over the past year, the OGVP has made real progress towards realizing a future free from gun violence. The office is incredibly vital because we now have a coordinated strategy to tackle the issue. By creating this office, President Biden has put federal resources towards tackling the issue of gun violence prevention head on.
This office has helped to put the pieces together to bring different stakeholders to the table. It's changed how the government interacts with community leaders on this issue which ultimately gets us one step closer to solving this issue once and for all.
The OGVP has been pivotal in gathering bipartisan power to pass the first gun control legislation in 30 years.
The OGVP has created response tools and strategies to help support communities when events of gun violence happen. This created a plan to coordinate federal resources to help a community get back on track after a tragedy.
The OGVP has brought attention to the lack of red-flag laws at the state level, an incredibly important tool that has been left in the toolbox until now. Vice President Harris traveled to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School – David is a survivor of the MSD school shooting – and called out state officials who weren't using red flag laws after hearing from the parents and students of MSD High School.
Since then, we've gone from 5 states using red flag laws to 15 states now thanks to the OGVP's important work.
We still have a long way to go, Jason. We know that the federal government – historically – has not done enough to protect young people from gun violence in the past, but the progress President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention have made in just one year gives us hope for the road ahead.
Leaders We Deserve
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