President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced a new office to their administration Friday.
The Office of Gun Violence Prevention was introduced by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) as his first piece of legislation since taking office this year. Frost joined Biden and Harris to offer speeches on the White House South Lawn that paid homage to the many victims of gun violence in recent memory.
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Harris began the conference with a blunder, having to correct herself after she introduced her husband, Douglas Emhoff, as the first gentleman. She quickly clarified and called him the second gentleman. The vice president said that the new office “will use the full power of the federal government,” as she will personally oversee it. Stefanie Feldman, Biden’s 2020 policy director and staff secretary since May, will be its director.
“So we are all gathered here today for a simple reason: We agree that in a civil society, the people must be able to shop in a grocery store, walk down the street, or sit peacefully in in a classroom and be safe from gun violence, but instead our nation is being torn apart by the tragedy of it all and torn apart by the fear and trauma that results from gun violence,” Harris said.
The president showed some emotion while introducing the first-of-its-kind office. Biden raised his voice to nearly yell at the crowd at one point.
“Anyone who doesn’t think that these kinds of engagements have a permanent effect on young children and many cases alter their entire lives if they never had a bullet touch them misunderstands,” Biden said. He lauded the Republican congressmen who have voted for “common sense gun laws.”
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This is the latest effort from Biden, who is up for reelection in 2024, to combat the issue. He has previously issued orders against ghost guns and trafficking weapons. Biden shared his hope that the office will grow to operate “the same way FEMA responds to natural disasters.”
There are roughly 120 incidents involving guns every day in the United States. In 2023, there have been 500 mass shootings and over 30,000 deaths due to gun violence. More than half of those deaths, about 17,490, were suicides, per the Gun Violence Archive.
