Biden talks about gun violence at a summit in West Hartford, Conn. on 16 June 2023.
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President Biden talks about gun violence at a summit in West Hartford, Conn. on June 16, 2023.
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Three people who were familiar with the plan confirmed it under the condition of anonymity before the Friday announcement. Washington Post was the first to report this news. The White House declined to comment.
It is a long-awaited move by gun control activists who have privately advocated for such a office for years. It comes at s time when additional gun reform seems unlikely.
Biden is expected to announce the new office at the White House on Friday, where he’ll be introduced by Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the first Gen Z member of the House of Representatives.
Frost, along with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn, has introduced legislation to create an office of gun violence prevention within the Justice Department.
The issue is personal for both lawmakers. Murphy has been a leading proponent of gun control legislation since the 2012 mass shooting at an elementary school in Sandy Hook, Conn., that killed 20 children and six adults.
Frost, who was in high school at the time of the shooting, considers it a principal reason he first got involved in politics. He also worked as a youth leader for the gun control group March For Our Lives before running for Congress. The office is expected to be led by Stefanie Feldman, currently White House staff secretary. She has worked on policy issues with Biden for more than a decade.
On May 7, 2023, protesters in Allen, Texas, protested against gun violence after a shooting in a local outlet mall.
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People in Allen, Texas protested against gun violence after a shooting in a local outlet mall on May 7, 2023.
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Gun violence is a top-of-mind issue for young voters
Reports about the announcement were praised by advocates like David Hogg, who co-founded March For Our Lives after a mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Fla. five years ago.
“There’s been a paradigm shift, I think, in American politics around guns,” Hogg told NPR. “
are no longer running away from this issue. He added that they were running proudly on the issue.
During 2018’s midterm elections, gun violence was a major theme of the Democratic national campaign. That was the first time gun control groups spent more money than gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association.
The president has called for “common sense” regulations and a ban on assault-style weapons. Republicans and a small number of Democrats oppose the measures.
Advocates say Biden’s new announcement helps show he is willing to act unilaterally on an issue important to young voters – at a time when he needs to energize this crucial voting bloc ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The announcement will come days after the White House announced a new Climate Corps job training program, also aimed at appealing to younger Americans.
Hogg said Biden needs young voters to win reelection. “That’s certainly not my opinion. It’s objectively true. “He needs to win young voters again. He especially needs younger people of color who were crucial to his 2020 election,” he said.
Families speak of the victims in the Uvalde mass shooting. March For Our Lives in Austin, Texas on August 27, 2022.
[Democrats are]
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Family members talk about the victims of Uvalde’s mass shooting. March For Our Lives in Austin, Texas on August 27, 2022.
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Public opinion on guns has changed. Murray, who is a Sandy Hook resident, was the neighbor of the shooter responsible for the deadly attack that took place in her town back in 2012. Murray, the chair of Newtown Action Alliance (a grassroots group formed after the shooting), said that a White House team should be focused on the issue every day. She said, “It’s a national emergency.”
Murray claimed that the public is on Biden’s side. According to a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey, most Americans believe it’s important to reduce gun violence over protecting gun rights. She said that it was a moral issue.