Parkland Students’ Gun Plan: Banning Assault Weapons, Raising Age To Buy Firearm, Creating National Registry
The March for Our Lives activists acknowledge their newly released plan to address gun violence is ambitious, but say a bold strategy is what's need to tackle the issue. Other components of their proposal include: a new multistep gun licensing system that would include in-person interviews and a 10-day wait before gun purchases are approved; a limit of one firearm purchase a month per person; and the establishment of a national director of gun violence prevention.
March for Our Lives, a group led by student survivors of last year鈥檚 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., unveiled an ambitious gun control platform on Wednesday that would ban assault-style weapons, raise the minimum age for buying firearms, create a national gun registry and require gun owners to pay for new licenses each year. The plan would go well beyond gun control measures like 鈥渞ed flag鈥 laws and expanded background checks, which have been openly discussed after 31 people were killed in recent mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso. (Hassan, 8/21)
The package, called a "Peace Plan for a Safer America," presents a six-part plan to address "the deadly epidemic of gun violence."聽The comprehensive gun control plan would aim to "halve the rate of gun deaths in 10 years" by passing national gun control legislation, starting FEC and IRS investigations into the National Rifle Association, and appointing a National Director of Gun Violence Prevention, among other provisions.聽(Wu, 8/21)
鈥淭he younger generations are disproportionately affected by gun violence. They should have a say in how their country solves this epidemic,鈥 the proposal reads. 鈥淭he federal government has failed in its responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of the public with regard to the nation鈥檚 gun violence epidemic. The time for comprehensive and sweeping reform is now.鈥 (Diaz, 8/21)
Meanwhile 鈥
The national gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety is beginning a digital advertising blitz in suburban swing districts in Virginia鈥檚 pivotal fall election, targeting Republican lawmakers in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads. The Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund has launched $135,000 worth of online ads to kick off a promised $2.5 million in spending this year in Virginia, which the group views as a proving ground for the gun-control issue ahead of next year鈥檚 presidential election. (Schneider, 8/21)
Ohio will soon have a new state office dedicated to school safety and preventing school violence. Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed an executive order establishing the Ohio School Safety Center within the Ohio Homeland Security office. (Borchardt, 8/21)
