March For Our Lives Statement on Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: This Historic Package Will Save Lives. But It Can’t Be the End of Congress’ Work to Curb Gun Violence

$250,000,000 for violence intervention funding, addressing the boyfriend loophole, hundreds of millions of dollars for mental health are significant wins for gun violence prevention

Washington, D.C. – After the Senate introduced the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act this evening, March For Our Lives released the following statement in support of the historic bill:

“This is what progress looks like. Just ten days ago, thousands of Americans came together, laid down our differences and demanded that our elected leaders do the same in order to address a common threat: the urgent crisis of gun violence. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act provides long-awaited federal solutions to the key causes of gun deaths in this country: too many weapons in the wrong hands and inadequate resources for the health of individuals and communities.

We’re pleased to see a number of measures we’ve long championed in the text of the bill, including:

• A $250 million investment in Community Violence Intervention programs that prevent violence from occurring before a trigger is pulled

• Major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs, including school-based and community-based programs;

• Addressing the “Boyfriend Loophole” and preventing many perpetrators of domestic violence from obtaining firearms;

• Requiring more firearms sellers to register as a Federally Licensed Firearm Dealer, which mandates that they must keep records and conduct background checks under federal law.

We’re immensely grateful to Senator Chris Murphy for his tireless efforts to bring this bill just inches away from the finish line, and for the dynamic role that survivors and activists played in raising the political pressure to make this moment possible. When we organize, we win.

To be clear, while this doesn’t include everything we need to declare victory on the gun violence epidemic, it is substantive progress. This bill shows us that it is actually possible to break through partisan gridlock in Congress to find common ground on what the vast majority of Americans actually agree on. When this bill passes, it will be the first substantial piece of federal gun safety legislation to become law in our lifetime. That’s worth celebrating. We will keep fighting until Congress takes every step possible to end the gun violence epidemic.”

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