Biden takes action on Buffalo massacre with 13 steps to curb gun violence.

The White House Takes Action to Curb Gun Violence

The White House has announced a series of 13 “new” actions to curtail gun violence, coinciding with President Joe Biden marking the anniversary of the Buffalo shooting last year. Underpinning the new steps is the implementation of the bipartisan Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was signed into law last year. The moves center around seeking to keep guns “out of dangerous hands,” improving school safety, “expanding community violence interventions,” and properly allocating mental health funding.

Biden Calls for More Action

“We need to do more. In the year after the Buffalo tragedy, our country has experienced more than 650 mass shootings and well over 40,000 deaths due to gun violence, according to one analysis,” Biden wrote in an op-ed published Sunday to mark the anniversary of the Buffalo shooting.

Ten victims, all black, were gunned down when a shooter stormed a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 2022. Three additional victims were wounded, and the suspected gunman was later detained and found to have a manifesto espousing white supremacist rhetoric.

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

The Buffalo shooting, as well as the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, later that month that killed 22 and left 18 injured, were widely seen as the impetus for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The law, passed under a Democrat-controlled Congress, sought to bolster gun background checks, the mental health system, and school safety.

Back on March 14, Biden directed members of his Cabinet to craft a report on their work to implement the law. As part of his 13 actions announced Sunday, he is seeking to “maximize the benefits of the legislation.”

Steps to Curb Gun Violence

To keep guns “out of dangerous hands,” Biden outlined four steps that revolved around the White House or Justice Department convening meetings or collaborating with local law enforcement, state governments, and territories to implement the new law. The DOJ will also provide more training to local authorities.

The White House then laid out six steps for mental health funding. This includes the Health and Human Services Department and the Education Department using money to help schools tackle mental health problems, HHS working with trauma programs, HHS and the Education Department establishing more resources for schools to “help students dealing with the physical and emotional impacts of gun violence,” and having HHS “clarify how early childhood providers.”

Next, to bolster school safety, the Department of Homeland Security will embark on a campaign to promote its SchoolSafety.gov, and the Education Department will help local schools tap into the Stronger Connections Grant Program.

Lastly, to expand “community violence interventions,” the DOJ will host a web series to “help local leaders use evidence-informed strategies to reduce violence.”

Call to Action

“I have already taken more meaningful executive action to reduce gun violence than any other president, and I will continue to pursue every legal and effective action. But my power is not absolute. Congress must act,” Biden added in his op-ed. “For God’s sake, do something.”

Republicans in Congress have shown little appetite to go along with Biden’s entreaties for increased gun control. The president traveled to his Rehoboth Beach, Deleware home for the weekend. Once he returns to the White House this week, he will continue to grapple with the debt ceiling deadlock in Congress and is set to depart to Japan later in the week for the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.

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