President Joe Biden will announce the creation of the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention on Friday, fulfilling a key demand of gun safety activists as legislation remains stalled in Congress, according to two people with direct knowledge of the White House’s plans.

Stefanie Feldman, a longtime Biden aide who previously worked on the Domestic Policy Council, will play a leading role, the people said.

Greg Jackson, executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund, and Rob Wilcox, the senior director for federal government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, are expected to hold key roles in the office alongside Feldman, who has worked on gun policy for more than a decade and still oversees the policy portfolio at the White House. The creation of the office was first reported by The Washington Post.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Most people are not asking to “get rid of guns.” Most people are asking for restrictions that keep people safe, not least our school children, and a ban on military-style weapons like AR-15s. That’s not unreasonable nor impossible.

    • astral_avocado@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      AR-15s are functionally the same as the majority of rifles, they’re semi automatic. Calling AR-15s military style immediately shows you know almost nothing about guns.

      We’d have a better return on our investment banning handguns which are used in more deadly non-police shootings by a whole fucking lot.

      • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, I’d call AR-15s military style. It’s ok if you don’t. No matter what you call them, it’s idiotic that random people run around with them.

        • astral_avocado@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Can you define what about them makes you consider them military style?

          And what are you thinking of when you say “random people running around with them”, because legally anyone who purchases them is required to pass an FBI background check to make sure they’re not a felon, among other things.

          • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I consider semi-automatic and automatic firearms to be military style.

            By “random” I just mean anyone who can pass a background check. The easy access to weapons is what stands out in American society when it comes to gun violence.

            • astral_avocado@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              I consider semi-automatic and automatic firearms to be military style.

              So just to be clear, that’s 99% of guns, and automatic is essentially already out of the equation since nobody makes or sells those anymore because of ATF regulations. Virtually all modern guns are semi automatic.

              You do know AR-15s that consumers can buy are already not automatic right?

              • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                You can try to twist my words as much as you want. Nothing new there. All I’m doing is calling for a ban on any weapon that’s designed to kill as many people as possible in as little time as possible.

                • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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                  1 year ago

                  “Twisting your words” (which didnt hapoen) then you go and use sophist goalpost moving.

                  Nice.

    • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      IMO a more robust mental and other healthcare system and social services would go a lot farther in preventing these kinds of things. Identifying and fixing/containing the people that are so deranged that they would kill others would stop most killings and the kinds of things that lead up to it. Most of the gun crime is a symptom of a much larger problem of people with little to no support lashing out.

      • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You think Americans are just that much more mentally ill than people in every other developed country on earth? Of course not. The one thing that stands out in the US is easy access to weapons.

        • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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          1 year ago

          Yes I do but that’s beside the point. The vast majority of gun owners never do anything criminal with them. It’s people with mental health problems who snap or criminals who’re using them to perpetrate other crimes (many of whom would probably not be criminals if they had proper social support.

          Countries with strict gun control haven’t solved the root of the problem. People can still be dangerous without guns and if we can’t trust someone to own a gun we really shouldn’t trust them to have free reign to interact with society without supervision either.