WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Leading Gun Safety Organizations Praise Schiff Legislation Aimed at Curbing Gun Violence, Keeping Communities Safe
Washington, D.C.— In case you missed it, Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced two critical bills aimed at addressing the gun violence crisis in America, both of which have received support from multiple leading gun safety organizations.
The Firearm Destruction Licensure Act will ensure firearms intended to be destroyed are not sold and do not fall back into the hands of bad actors. The comprehensive legislation will require those engaged in the business of firearm destruction to become licensed and directs the Attorney General to prescribe the acceptable methods of firearm destruction, all while offsetting the additional costs local governments or law enforcement may incur.
The ATF Data and Anti-Trafficking Accountability (DATA) Act will enhance public transparency regarding the activities of the firearms industry and the regulatory functions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Schiff’s bill will require the ATF to publish an annual report including aggregated trace data to better inform anti-trafficking strategies.
See what leaders are saying:
"These two bills put forth by Representative Schiff address some big gaps in gun violence prevention: a lack of data collection and a proliferation of gun trafficking. We need to keep guns out of the hands of people dangerous to others, and do everything in our power to understand the facts of this problem in order to most effectively tackle it. We thank Representative Schiff for his leadership on these issues, and look forward to hopefully seeing these bills pass into law," said Emma Brown, GIFFORDS Executive Director.
“Over 43,000 Americans were killed by guns in 2023. The Surgeon General recently declared gun violence a national public health crisis. Law enforcement guns that are slated for destruction should not be sold to criminals and other prohibited individuals. We urge Congress to immediately pass the Firearm Destruction Licensure Act to prevent firearm destruction companies from selling law enforcement firearms or any of its parts,” said Po Murray, Chairwoman, Newtown Action Alliance.
“Once elected, President Biden directed the DOJ to publish annual firearms commerce and trafficking reports. The ATF’s National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment investigations on firearm trafficking showed that nearly 230,000 firearms were trafficked in 7,779 cases between 2017 and 2021. Gun trafficking was made a federal crime when the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law by President Biden in 2022. Congress must pass the ATF DATA Act to ensure that these reports are published annually for us to better understand the scope of the problem and to hold the bad actors accountable for arming prohibited individuals in the U.S. and beyond,” said Po Murray, Chairwoman, Newtown Action Alliance.
“Each year, state and local law enforcement turn over hundreds of thousands of firearms recovered in criminal investigations, through buyback programs, or through turnover of their own equipment to firearm destruction companies for the purpose of destruction.l. Yet, it has recently come to light that oftentimes, not all parts of the firearms are destroyed; instead unregulated components enter a secondary resale market, fueling the gun violence epidemic in America. This bill will ensure that when a law enforcement firearm is destroyed, it is destroyed entirely. We thank Representative Adam Schiff for introducing the Firearm Destruction Licensure Act of 2024 to drive this necessary change,” said Mark Collins, Director of Federal Policy, Brady.
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