WASHINGTON, DC—Following recent mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX and Tulsa, OK, the House Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance the “Protecting Our Kids Act” to the House floor. HR 7910 is a comprehensive package of gun violence prevention proposals to stop the spread of gun -related crimes and help prevent future mass casualty shootings. The legislation passed by a vote of 25-19, with all Republicans voting against.
“Today the House Judiciary Committee took the first, but hopefully not the last, step towards enacting commonsense gun violence prevention legislation,” said Chairman Nadler. “The American people are hungry for real solutions to the unconscionable wave of gun violence that is sweeping our country. The time for stalling, obstruction and obfuscation in the face of senseless killing after senseless killing is over. The bold package we passed today will not only help prevent the next Uvalde or Buffalo, it will also keep our communities and schools safer by addressing many of the loopholes that allow guns to fall into the wrong hands. I look forward to bringing this package to the House floor next week for a vote.”
The “Protecting Our Kids Act” would:
Raise the lawful age to purchase a semiautomatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21 years old
Establish a new federal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity magazines, with exceptions for certain law enforcement uses and the possession (but not sale) of grandfathered magazines;
Establish new federal offenses for gun trafficking and straw purchasers and authorize seizure of the property and proceeds of the offense
Establish voluntary best practices for safe firearm storage; award grants for Safe Firearm Storage Assistance Programs; provide a tax incentive to dealers for 10% of amounts received from the sale of safe storage devices
Establish requirements to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises; create criminal penalties for violation of the requirements
Build on ATF’s regulatory bump stock ban by listing bump stocks under the National Firearms Act (like machineguns) and statutorily banning the manufacture, sale, or possession of bump stocks for civilian use
Build on ATF’s regulatory ban of ghost guns by ensuring that ghost guns are subject to existing federal firearm regulation by amending the definition of “firearm” to include gun kits and partial receivers and changing the definition of “manufacturing firearms” to include assembling firearms using 3D printing
