Washington, DC – Today, the House of Representatives approved a bill introduced and championed by Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022. This was the culminating event of a week in which McBath played a leading role in the federal response to recent tragedies across the nation involving gun violence. Earlier in the week, McBath participated in several events demanding action on gun violence prevention legislation.
“Today, the House voted to provide loved ones and law enforcement the tools they need to help prevent mass shootings,” McBath said. “We voted to save the lives of our children, to protect our families, and to do what is right. Ever since my son was murdered, I made a promise to Jordan, to his community, and to the American people that I would spend the rest of my life fighting to make sure that no parent will ever have to go through the pain of losing a child. We are facing the challenge of our lifetime and the issue of our era, and we must succeed.”
On Tuesday, McBath spoke at the National Gun Violence Memorial with former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, Speaker Pelosi, and colleagues from the House and Senate. The memorial features 45,000 flowers at the Washington Monument representing the 45,000 Americans who died in the past year from gun violence.
On Wednesday, McBath was featured at the House Democratic Caucus press conference following the Democratic Caucus’ weekly meeting. She spoke to the urgent need to take federal action in response to the spate of gun violence in America. Later Wednesday evening, McBath voted to support H.R. 7910, the Protecting Our Kids Act, which would raise the lawful age to purchase certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles from 18 to 21 years old and enact new federal policies to reduce gun violence among young people. Firearms were the leading cause of death for American children and teens in 2020.
On Thursday, McBath addressed a crowd of students and activists outside the U.S. Capitol with Everytown for Gun Safety in America, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Chris Murphy, and Congressman Mike Thompson to encourage public support for the legislation that was passed this week and to motivate advocates for gun violence prevention to continue using their voices in this effort.
Just today, the House passed McBath’s bill, H.R. 2377, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2022. H.R. 2377 was introduced by McBath immediately following last year’s Rose Garden event with President Biden urging federal action to address red flag laws. H.R. 2377 will establish nationwide access to extreme risk protection orders through federal courts, improve the implementation of existing state extreme risk laws and encourage more states to adopt these laws by providing grant funding to states with laws that meet certain standards, and require law enforcement to be trained in the safe, impartial, effective, and equitable use of extreme risk protection orders, including social service provider referrals, crisis intervention, and language accessibility. A similar piece of bipartisan legislation was introduced in 2018 in the Senate by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).