DeLauro Votes in Support of Comprehensive Gun Safety Legislation

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro today voted in support of the Protecting Our Kids Act, a package of gun safety legislation that combines several sensible and overwhelmingly popular firearm safety proposals.

"Today, I voted in support of the Protecting Our Kids Act, legislation that would reduce gun violence in the United States and save lives," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "This comprehensive firearm safety package includes legislation I authored, Ethan's Law, which will keep kids across the country safe by ensuring that firearms are safely stored and secured. I introduced Ethan's Law in the House of Representatives over three years ago, after it passed the Connecticut State Assembly and State Legislature in memory of Ethan Song—a Guilford, Connecticut teenager who accidentally shot himself with an unsecured gun in 2018. Today, we took a critical step to make Ethan's Law the national standard in safe storage."

The Protecting Our Kids Act:

• Includes legislation authored by DeLauro, Ethan's Law, which would establish requirements to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises and will incentivize states to create and implement safe gun storage laws;
• Raises the lawful age to purchase a semiautomatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21 years old;
• Establishes a new federal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of large capacity magazines, with exceptions for certain law enforcement uses and the possession (but not sale) of grandfathered magazines; and allow state and local governments to use the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to compensate individuals who surrender large capacity magazines through a buyback program;
• Establishes new federal offenses for gun trafficking and straw purchases and authorize seizure of the property and proceeds of those offenses;
• Establishes voluntary best practices for safe firearm storage and award grants for Safe Firearm Storage Assistance Programs;
• Builds on ATF's regulatory bump stock ban by listing bump stocks under the National Firearms Act (like machineguns), and ban the manufacture, sale, or possession of bump stocks for civilian use; and
• Builds 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.

Congresswoman DeLauro also held a virtual media availability on the need to enact gun safety legislation with Kristin and Mike Song, Ethan Song's parents. You can watch here. You can also watch Congresswoman DeLauro's floor remarks in support of the Protecting Our Kids Acthere.

"Americans face a rising tide of gun violence across the nation," DeLauro continued. "The recent mass shootings in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX have robbed families of loved ones and left communities traumatized. These tragedies were avoidable, and the direct result of our repeated lack of action to get guns off our streets. We must do everything within our power to prevent them from happening again.

"Mass shootings are taking the lives of babies, parents, brothers and sisters. Saving our children must be a unifying mission for our nation, and I will not rest until the job is done. We took an important step forward today, but until these provisions become law, innocent lives are at stake."