Washington, DC– Today, Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) voted to pass the Protecting Our Kids Act, a legislative package that will have life-saving impacts in our fight against gun violence in the United States. Rep. Sherrill also voted to pass the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, legislation to keep guns out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves or others by implementing a nationwide extreme risk law and encouraging states to enact their own extreme risk laws.
According to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, guns are the number one killer of children in America, causing more deaths than car accidents or cancer. Over the last two decades, more school-age children have died from guns than have on-duty police officers and active-duty military personnel combined.
"Time and time again, our nation mourns the lives lost and the communities impacted by another mass shooting. It's time my colleagues across the aisle, who routinely profess to be deeply concerned about the lives lost to gun violence begin passing the legislation that would save them. Legislation that, when enacted into law in New Jersey, has already saved lives," said Rep. Sherrill. "Today, I proudly voted to pass common-sense gun safety measures like preventing gun trafficking, raising the age to 21, implementing safe storage measures, and banning high-capacity magazines to protect children and families from firearms in their homes, schools, grocery stores, hospitals, and communities. The House did its part by passing strong gun-safety bills today; the Senate must act. Americans across the country are urging their Senators to do the right thing."
The Protecting Our Kids Act includes the following provisions:
The Raise the Age Act: Raises the lawful age to purchase certain semi-automatic centerfire rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21 years old. Currently, someone has to be 21 years old to purchase a handgun, but they can purchase a semi-automatic centerfire rifle or shotgun at age 18.
The Prevent Gun Trafficking Act: Expands enforcement of gun trafficking offenses and cracks down on straw purchases to get illegal guns off our streets. Every year, thousands of guns are diverted from legal to illegal markets. Guns also move easily from states with weak gun laws into states with strong gun laws like New Jersey, thereby undermining state-level gun safety laws and creating significant threats to public safety.
The Untraceable Firearms Act: Closes the ghost gun loophole by amending the definition of "firearm" under federal law to include gun kits and partial receivers and by changing the definition of "manufacturing firearms" to include assembling firearms using 3D printing technology. Ghost guns are firearms that lack serial numbers and are therefore untraceable. In recent years, the increased presence of ghost guns in our communities has made it harder for law enforcement to find and prosecute violent criminals. By modifying these definitions, this provision ensures that ghost guns, including firearms manufactured or completed using 3D printing, are subject to existing federal firearm regulations.
The Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act; Ethan's Law; and the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act: Requires and encourages the safe storage of firearms. The presence of unsecured firearms in the home increases the risk of unintentional and intentional shootings, particularly with minors in the residence. Over 75 percent of the firearms used in youth suicide attempts and unintentional firearm injuries were stored in the residence of the victim, a relative, or a friend.
The Closing the Bump Stock Loophole Act: Defines bump stocks and lists them under the National Firearms Act so that they are regulated in the same way as machine guns. A bump stock is a device that, when added to a semi-automatic firearm, allows the firearm to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger. On October 1, 2017, a shooter used bump stock devices to shoot more than 1,000 bullets into a crowd in Las Vegas – killing 60 people and wounding 411, making it the deadliest mass shooting in American history.
Under the National Firearms Act, it is already illegal for Americans to own fully automatic firearms and machine guns. However, due to a loophole in the law, bump stocks – devices attached to semi-automatic rifles that increase their rate of fire to that similar to machine guns – are unregulated.
The Keep Americans Safe Act: Prohibits the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a magazine that holds more than 15 rounds of ammunition, unless an individual falls under a particular exception. These high-capacity magazines are designed for shooting and killing en masse and have been the accessory of choice in some of the bloodiest mass shootings in America. For example, the Columbine High School shooting and the Virginia Tech shooting were perpetrated by shooters with high-capacity magazines.
There are exceptions including allowing possession or sale to qualified law enforcement officers for purposes of law enforcement (on- or off-duty), and law enforcement agencies. There is also an exception for possession by a person who is retired in good standing from service with a law enforcement agency if the magazine was sold or transferred to the person upon retirement or purchased for official use before retirement.
Rep. Sherrill is a former Navy helicopter pilot and former federal prosecutor. She qualified as an expert shot in the rifle and pistol in the U.S. Navy. As a federal prosecutor, she worked to keep illegal guns off the streets of New Jersey. As a member of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, Rep. Sherrill helped secure $25 million in landmark funding for the CDC to study gun violence and prevention.
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