Schrader Issues Statement on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

Press Release

U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-05) issued the following statement in response to Senate passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act:

I have long been a proponent of common sense gun control that does not infringe on the 2nd amendment, and I am pleased to see the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act pass through the Senate with overwhelming support.

I have been a consistent advocate for more universal background checks like we have in Oregon and enhanced background checks when necessary.

In 2018, in response to the Parkland shootings, I voted for, and Congress passed legislation giving the Attorney General the ability to ban bump stocks, repeal the Dickey amendment that would allow for federal gun violence research, expanding and enforcing the NICS background check system, encourage judges to issue temporary restraining orders on gun ownership for those with mental health issues, and make money available for safer school grants.

In this Congress, I voted for legislation banning bump stocks, prohibiting straw gun purchases outside of family relatives, making ghost guns subject to the laws for all other guns, allowing for federal extreme risk protection orders, and supporting the safe storage of all firearms.

The tragedies across the nation, especially in our schools, simply are unacceptable. That is why I am a strong supporter of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that makes more common sense reforms to gun ownership in line with the Constitution of our country.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act goes a way towards expanding background checks and stopping straw purchases, bolsters the background check review process for juvenile records of 18-20 year olds, closes the "boyfriend" loop to prohibit charged or convicted domestic abusers from gun ownership, creates funding for states to enact red flag laws when someone is determined to be a risk to themselves or others, and makes a big investment in community behavioral health centers and safer schools to get at some of the root causes of the tragedies.

We all have a duty to protect those around us and still enable responsible gun ownership guaranteed under the Constitution.

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