Vice President Kamala Harris has announced new gun safety initiatives as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to halt the epidemic of gun violence in schools, with a particular focus on preventing access to firearms for individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, the White House released a statement on Thursday.
During a visit to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a deadly 2018 shooting, the Vice President launched the first National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center aimed at improving the implementation of red flag laws, which allow for the temporary removal of gun access from individuals flagged by family or law enforcement, at states across the country the Resource Center will provide various forms of assistance, ranging from training to site assessments, and is backed by a Department of Justice grant via the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Harris is pushing for states without red flag laws to enact them and use federal funding to bolster existing ones, with BSCA providing $750 million for state crisis intervention programs, only 6 out of the 21 states and territories with such laws have tapped into these funds to reinforce their implementation; this call comes amid a review by the Department of Homeland Security's National Threat Assessment Center that found targeted school violence often being foreshadowed by warning signs.
The Biden-Harris Administration is also making strides in school security, such as enhanced background checks that have prevented over 2,300 firearms from reaching the wrong hands, and the crackdown on ghost guns which could be ordered online and completed easily in the comfort of one's home, with businesses manufacturing these firearms now required to include serial numbers and conduct background checks.
Additional measures include the Department of Education sending resources to schools highlighting the importance of gun storage security and the allocation of $1 billion through the Stronger Connections Grant program to support underserved school districts with safety and mental health services, moreover, the Administration has dedicated a historic $1 billion to enhance student mental health services, together with calls for Congress to pass more stringent gun laws.
