President Joe Biden’s White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention has announced a campaign to promote safe gun storage. The initiative, involving schools and the military, includes pushing for federal and state gun storage laws.
First Lady Jill Biden, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention director Stefanie Feldman discussed the plans during a town hall with school principals at the White House on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Ms. Biden and administration officials highlighted the executive actions taken by President Biden to prevent gun violence but said that there is more work to be done. She informed the principals of the president’s concern regarding issues of suicide and violent crime involving guns.
She told the school administrators that the ultimate aim is to prevent future gun deaths among children.
“This issue matters to the President,” she said. “He’s not going to rest until he solves it. We must protect our kids from gun violence.”
Ms. Feldman told the group that President Biden has implemented more executive actions to promote gun safety than any previous president.
According to information provided by the White House, these actions include implementing suicide prevention programs through the Veterans Administration, funding school-based mental health services, and supporting violence intervention programs under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
She added that the Biden Administration is committed to urging Congress to pass a national safe storage law, which would hold gun owners accountable for crimes committed with improperly stored firearms. Ms. Feldman also mentioned that her office has partnered with the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to assist school administrators.
Ms. Biden and her colleagues also reminded the gathering about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) rules for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs).
All FFLs are required to sell storage or locking devices compatible with the firearms they offer. The ATF has issued an open letter reminding FFLs that provide gun storage services of their obligation to manage these requests with the same diligence as they would a gun purchase. This includes logging the firearm in their business records and conducting background checks, even when transferring a firearm back to its owner.
Mr. Cardona said that he has developed templates for letters that principals can use to encourage teachers to promote safe gun storage in their classrooms. In a letter he is sending to principals across the country, he said that the responsibility of keeping children safe falls on school personnel, a duty that extends beyond the school building.
“As school principals and district administrators, you have credibility in your community and trust in your schools and districts that uniquely position you to help save lives,” his letter reads.
The aim of the program, according to the group, is to prevent mass shootings, accidental shooting deaths, and suicides by making it more difficult to access firearms. The majority of gun deaths are suicides.
A spokesman for a national firearms trade group called the administration’s efforts an example of overreach.
Mark Oliva is the managing director for public affairs of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Speaking from the group’s annual Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Mr. Oliva said that the NSSF has been promoting safe storage and suicide prevention programs without government involvement.
He claimed the program has given away more than 40 million firearm safety kits complete with gun locks.
The BraveConversation.org website features suicide prevention toolkits, information on safe firearms storage, and links to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and suicide prevention organizations such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, according to the NSSF.
“The Biden administration is ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in District of Columbia v. Heller that clearly found the government cannot mandate firearms must be locked in the home,” Mr. Oliva wrote in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“It would be more effective if the Biden administration would recognize and support effective programs such as Project ChildSafe.”
