Trahan Supports Commonsense Gun Safety Legislation to Protect Our Kids

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) voted in favor of H.R. 7910, the Protecting Our Kids Act, which would implement lifesaving, commonsense gun safety laws that respond to the recent mass shootings in schools and communities across the United States. The legislation passed 223-204.

During debate on the Protecting Our Kids Act, Trahan spoke in favor of the legislation. Her remarks can be viewed HERE or by clicking the image below. A transcript of her speech as delivered is below.

In 2022 alone, there have been 27 school shootings with injuries or deaths already, meaning there's a school shootings roughly every 6 days. The Protecting Our Kids Act will take concrete actions to respond to the massacres in Uvalde, Buffalo, and countless other communities that have been devastated by gun violence. The vote on this legislation comes as guns are now the leading cause of death for children in America, according to data from the CDC.

Specifically, the Protecting Our Kids Act would:

Raise the lawful age to purchase an assault weapon from 18 to 21 years old;
Establish a new federal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity 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, and 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 and create criminal penalties for violation of the requirements;
Build on ATF's bump stock ban by listing bump stocks under the National Firearms Act and statutorily banning the manufacture, sale, or possession of bump stocks for civilian use;
Build on ATF's ban of ghost guns by ensuring that ghost guns are subject to existing federal firearm regulation.
During her time in Congress, Trahan has repeatedly advocated for and supported commonsense gun safety legislation. In March 2021, she cosponsored and voted for legislation to require universal background checks on every gun purchase and close the Charleston loophole. In 2019, she voted to fund gun violence research at the CDC -- the first time the federal government funded gun violence research.

Trahan is also a cosponsor of legislation to renew the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004 and block gun sales to individuals who have previously been convicted of a hate crime. Finally, she has also been a proud supporter of local organizations like UTEC that are working to address gun violence and youth recidivism at the community level. The Congresswoman hosted HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at UTEC last year to hear about the work they're doing on these issues.

The Protecting Our Kids Act now moves to the Senate for consideration.

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