Plans to establish a ground-breaking Office of Gun Violence Prevention inside the White House have been revealed by President Joe Biden. Stefanie Feldman, a seasoned policy consultant to President Biden on gun issues, will head the new office, which will be subordinate to Vice President Kamala Harris. The move has been hailed by advocacy organizations that have long urged the president to create such an office.

In his remarks, President Biden urged Congress to take the initiative and reaffirmed his support for common sense measures like universal background checks and restrictions on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. He underlined how critical it is to address the epidemic of gun violence, which has shattered families, communities, and the country.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a historic 2022 law heralded as the most comprehensive gun violence prevention policy in 30 years, is intimately related to the establishment of this institution. Following the horrific massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed the lives of 19 pupils and 2 teachers, this proposal gathered momentum.

The deputy directors of the office will be Greg Jackson, an executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund and a survivor of gun violence, and Rob Wilcox, senior director of federal government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety.

President Biden’s action comes in the wake of a recent rule proposal that would have required federal licenses and criminal background checks for for-profit gun sellers. The government has also implemented executive orders; one significant example is an executive order from March that aims to improve background checks.

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida submitted legislation in March to establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention inside the Justice Department, in addition to the president’s efforts. Murphy applauded the White House’s announcement, emphasizing that it might improve the federal government’s execution of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and perhaps save lives.

In the US, there is still a lot of anxiety about gun violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have provided provisional statistics indicating that the rate of firearm-related homicides was 5.9 per 100,000 last year and is currently at 5.22 per 100,000 this year. The creation of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention denotes a thorough strategy to deal with this urgent problem and advance safer neighborhoods across the country.