Duluth, GA — Today, Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-07) is announcing that Georgia will receive $7.5 million in funding to support Extreme Risk Protection Orders for crisis intervention and to stop gun violence, a measure she fought for as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was signed into law last year. The announcement comes just hours after the nation learned the devastating news that an act of gun violence had killed 3 and injured 5 students at Michigan State University.
“Day after day, communities and loved ones across this nation are receiving the call that I did—the call the brings you to your knees and robs you of your breath. They are receiving the call that their loved one has been killed by an act of gun violence. Just last night, the nation learned of a shooting in Michigan that killed and injured students as they pursued their education. We can NOT continue to live like this. We have the tools to stop gun violence and empower our neighbors to intervene when an individual is in crisis,” said McBath. “Today’s announcement is an important step in giving support to each and every community across this country so that no more parents or families learn the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence. I thank the Justice Department for their work in implementing the programs passed by Congress in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. We have to keep up this fight. We have to save lives.”
“The Justice Department is working relentlessly to protect communities from violent crime and the gun violence that often drives it, and the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program is an important part of that effort,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “These awards will support the kinds of crisis intervention programs that we know save lives and help protect children, families, and communities across the country from senseless acts of gun violence.”
The award comes as one of 49 awards to states, territories, and the District of Columbia as part of the Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program, announced by the Justice Department today. This investment of over $231 million total will fund state crisis intervention court proceedings, including extreme risk protection order (ERPO) programs that work to keep guns out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves or others. These awards, administered by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), provide funding to states for the creation and implementation of extreme risk protection order programs, state crisis intervention court proceedings, and related gun violence reduction initiatives. Extreme risk protection order programs empower family members, health care providers, school officials and law enforcement officers to petition a court to temporarily prevent a person from accessing firearms if they are found to be a danger to themselves or others.
McBath has long been a champion of Extreme Risk Protection Orders during her time in the United States Congress, and her bill to implement a federal standard for these community tools passed the House of Representatives last summer. The consistent work McBath has led on extreme risk protection orders has allowed more communities to have access to these life-saving tools that help get guns out of the hands of those who should not have them.
Signed into law by President Biden in June 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is the most significant piece of federal gun safety legislation in almost three decades and comes as a response to recent mass shootings and to the far more common, but no less tragic, incidents of community gun violence. It seeks to ensure that extreme risk protection order laws and programs are implemented in accordance with the Constitution and provide for adequate due process protections. Projects funded under this program will need to demonstrate that they have taken measures to safeguard the constitutional rights of an individual subject to a crisis intervention program or ERPO initiative. The Justice Department has long supported state efforts to increase the use of ERPOs and in 2021 the Department released model legislation to help states create their own extreme risk protection order systems and provide for intervention before warning signs turn into tragedy.