Rep. Schrier, Pediatrician, Votes to Pass Commonsense Gun Safety Measures to Keep Children Safe

Press Release

Today Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08), the first and only pediatrician elected to Congress, voted in support of several commonsense gun safety measures to keep children safe. These measures are supported by the majority of Americans. The Protecting Our Kids Act passed the House 223-204.

"In 2020, guns overtook motor vehicle accidents to become the number one cause of death for children. Sit with that for a second. As a mom and pediatrician, this is a sickening statistic, especially knowing that most of these deaths are preventable," said Rep. Schrier. "The bills we passed today will make it harder for criminals to get guns, keep guns stored safely away from children, close loopholes to make our communities safer, and ban high-capacity magazines that make it much easier to kill many people in a matter of seconds."

The Protecting Our Kids Act takes a number of steps to prevent gun violence including:

* Raising the purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 years old
* Cracking down on gun trafficking and straw purchases to get illegal guns off the streets
* Strengthening safe storage requirements to protect children from accidental shootings
* Closing the bump stock loophole to ban these deadly tools from civilian use
* Outlawing high-capacity magazines

Tomorrow the House is expected to also vote on the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Act, which Rep. Schrier supports. This legislation allows family members and law enforcement officers to temporarily remove access to firearms for an individual who is deemed a danger to themselves or others. Currently 19 states, including Washington, have extreme risk protection order laws. According to a recent report, in 56% of mass shootings from 2009-2020, the attacker exhibited dangerous warning signs before the shooting. That is where an extreme risk protection order could prevent tragic shootings and save lives.

Rep. Schrier has also introduced bipartisan legislation called the Prevent Family Fire Act that would provide tax incentives to gun sellers to also sell a gun lock or safe with all gun sales. Too often children are killed accidentally by guns they find in the home that are not properly secured.

Source