President Biden on Friday will announce the creation of a new office for gun violence prevention, an escalation of the administration’s efforts to tackle the issue amid stalled progress in Congress, according to four people briefed on the action who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that were not yet public.

Biden and Vice President Harris are scheduled to announce the new office at an event in the White House Rose Garden on Friday afternoon, the people said.

Greg Jackson, a gun violence survivor who is the executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund, and Rob Wilcox, the senior director for federal government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, are expected to have key roles in the office, the people said.

  • SuiXi3D@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The Uvalde shooter walked into a gun store, and they let him walk out with an AR-15, which he immediately used to shoot up a school.

    Unless we severely restrict who can and can’t legally purchase a firearm, nothing will change. There needs to be background checks, licensing for everyone wanting to buy with a requirement to renew every year (with a test), and mandatory waiting periods. Toss anyone not following these rules in jail for a bit, double if they’re selling firearms outside of the rules.

    I’m not saying nobody should have guns. I’m saying people should have to prove they’re capable of safely using one, and that they’re of sound mind when they purchase one. That’s it.

    • Jordan Lund@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      He had no criminal record, so passed the background check.

      That being said, there were MASSIVE red flags that COULD have been background check worthy:

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robb_Elementary_School_shooting

      “Ramos’ social media acquaintances said he openly abused and killed animals such as cats and would livestream the abuse on Yubo.[128] Other social media acquaintances said that he would also livestream himself on Yubo threatening to kidnap and rape girls who used the app, as well as threatening to commit a school shooting.[126] Ramos’ account was reported to Yubo, but no action was taken.[126][129] Up until a month before the shooting, Ramos worked at a local Wendy’s and had been employed there for at least a year. According to the store’s night manager, he went out of his way to keep to himself.[130] One of his coworkers said he was occasionally rude to his female coworkers, to whom he sent inappropriate text messages, and would intimidate coworkers at his job by asking them, “Do you know who I am?”[92] Ramos’ coworkers referred to him by names including “school shooter” because he had long hair and frequently wore black clothing.[131]”

      So, if you want to block people like this from passing a background check, what do we do?

      Make social media platforms like Yubo mandatory reporters? “Hey, we have this user who may, in fact, be psychotic, just thought you should know!”

      Or mandatory reporting of the inappropriate texts? Do you hold Wendy’s or the cell carrier responsible for that?