Moms Demand Action Applauds Washington House for Passing Legislation to Establish the Washington Office of Firearm Violence Prevention

The Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement after the Washington House of Representatives passed SB 6288, which would establish the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention. The bill now moves back to the Senate for concurrence before heading to the Governor’s desk.

“The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention will help reduce gun violence in all its forms,” said Kate Stockert, a volunteer with the Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We’re grateful to the gun sense champions in the House who listened to our calls for more action on gun safety. We urge lawmakers to swiftly send this to the governor’s desk.”
 
The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention would promote effective state and local efforts to reduce preventable injuries and deaths from daily gun violence in Washington. While Washington is a national leader in gun violence prevention, the state has not historically prioritized local violence intervention and prevention programs aimed at reducing interpersonal gun violence. Establishing the Washington Office of Firearm Violence Prevention would allow the state to support several effective gun violence reduction initiatives and create a case study for funding throughout the state. 

Statistics about gun violence in Washington are available here, and information on how Washington’s gun laws compare to other states overall is available here.