Investments Come As Part of Biden-Harris Administration’s Implementation of Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
WASHINGTON — Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, applauded the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) awarding over $200 million in funding to states for crisis intervention programs, including for implementation of Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws, also called Red Flag laws. This first round of funding for these programs comes from last summer’s landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major federal gun safety law passed in nearly 30 years.
“Gun laws like the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act save lives — but only if they are fully implemented and strongly enforced,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for providing states with unprecedented funding to implement Red Flag laws and ensure that when someone exhibits warning signs, the right legal tools are taken out of the toolbox and guns are temporarily taken out of dangerous hands.”
“Our grassroots army put everything on the line last summer to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act because we knew the Biden-Harris Administration would use every tool within it to help end gun violence,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action. “This funding will help end our uniquely American rituals of not only having to grieve shootings over and over again, but finding out in the days following how dangerous warning signs from the perpetrator were ignored.”
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which has already prevented dozens of illegal gun sales, provided $750 million in much-needed funding over the next five years to support crisis intervention services, including the implementation of state Red Flag laws. This first round of funding covers fiscal years 2022 and 2023, and is routed through a well-established existing funding stream. This crucial funding – which has been awarded to 44 states to date – can be used to support a wide variety of implementation efforts, such as training for courts and law enforcement and community outreach and education campaigns to raise awareness about the availability of this vital intervention tool. DOJ is also in the process of awarding a grant to establish a National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center to aid in the implementation effort.
Everytown, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action continue to work with and support the efforts of the bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate that passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and the Biden-Harris Administration, to ensure robust implementation and strong enforcement of this historic law.