Washington, DC – Today, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand issued the following statement on President Joe Biden’s Executive Order to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer:
“Our nation is in the midst of a gun violence epidemic, and President Biden’s executive order will help keep these weapons out of dangerous hands and speed up implementation of the historic bipartisan gun safety law Congress passed last year, including the measures I helped pass to criminalize gun trafficking,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I have worked hard alongside my colleagues to protect our communities from gun violence, having pushed for expanded background checks, legislation to classify gun trafficking as a federal offense, and greater access to records of gun purchases. I want to thank President Biden for taking these steps that will not only help local authorities keep deadly weapons away from those who should not have them, but will also potentially help prevent mass shootings.”
Senator Gillibrand has consistently fought to protect communities from gun violence, having joined Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) this month in urging Congress to pass the Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act, which would require the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to collect, preserve, and disclose gun records and gun tracing data. The Gun Records Restoration and Preservation Act would give local law enforcement agencies an important tool to investigate and solve gun crimes, crack down on gun trafficking and negligent gun dealers, and give researchers access to gun tracing data to help them study gun violence and its impact on communities across the nation.
Last month, Senator Gillibrand joined Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) to reintroduce the Background Check Expansion Act, which would expand federal background checks to all gun sales, requiring unlicensed sellers to conduct background checks, whether they do business online, at gun shows, or out of their homes.
In 2022, Senator Gillibrand called for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice to work toward the full implementation of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) merchant category code (MCC) for gun and ammunition retailers, which would help law enforcement monitor suspicious firearm purchasing patterns that could constitute illegal gun trafficking.
Senator Gillibrand’s continued push for stronger gun safety measures complements her anti-gun trafficking provisions from the Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Gun Trafficking and Crime Prevention Act that were included in the historic gun safety bill signed by President Joe Biden – the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. These measures crack down on individuals who engage in gun trafficking and those who sell or deal trafficked firearms, making gun trafficking a stand-alone federal crime. These provisions have brought about immediate results, after four gun traffickers were charged in January with illegally selling over 50 firearms in Brooklyn.
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