The Biden administration cheered Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) Thursday for proposing to create a statewide gun violence prevention office, making Maryland the first state to take up an initiative put forth by the White House in late 2023.
Moore introduced three gun violence-focused bills on Tuesday ahead of the state’s legislative session, one of which would launch an office modeled after the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention launched by President Joe Biden in September.
The White House office, overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn charged states and localities with forming their own offices as part of the administration’s “Safer States Initiative” in December.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the Washington Examiner during Thursday’s press briefing that Moore’s action is “important” and that the White House is “glad to see” states beginning to take up proposals coming out of the gun violence office.
“We are constantly in touch with local and state officials and localities on how to move forward in dealing with gun violence in their communities,” she stated. “The president has been very clear. There is a gun violence, gun epidemic here in this country, and he’s going to do everything that he can to deal with this.”
Jean-Pierre pointed to the bipartisan gun violence legislation Biden signed into law in 2022, in addition to roughly two dozen executive actions aimed at getting illegal firearms off the streets and driving down violent crime.
“All of these things are critical and important,” she continued. “One of the charges of the gun violence office here at the White House is to work with localities, is to work with states on how to move forward in dealing with gun violence in their community.”
Jean-Pierre declined to say if the White House had been in touch with any other governors about launching statewide gun violence prevention offices.
“When President Biden established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, he directed the office to partner with states in our collective effort to end the epidemic of gun violence that is tearing our communities apart,” White House Office of Gun Violence Deputy Director Rob Wilcox added in a statement. “Last month, Vice President Harris convened 100 state legislators at the White House to announce key actions states can take to protect their communities, specifically calling on states to establish their own State Offices of Gun Violence Prevention. With today’s announcement, Maryland becomes the first state to answer the call, establishing its New Center for Firearm Violence, which represents a critical step in focusing their investments on proven gun violence prevention strategies that can and will save lives.”
The White House has openly championed Biden’s gun violence initiatives as being responsible for a decline in violent crime since he entered office in 2021, including the largest yearly drop in national homicides in 2023, according to the FBI.
Harris, in turn, has also become one of the administration’s most public figures in discussing those initiatives.
She traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, alongside Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday to announce more than $6 million in new grants aimed at helping school districts across the country tackle violent crime and $285 million in grants to help schools hire and train mental health professionals.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Every child deserves the freedom to live safe from gun violence in their school and throughout their community. President Biden and I are committed to protecting this freedom and continuing to address an epidemic of gun violence that has become the leading cause of death for children across America,” Harris said in a statement. “With today’s announcement, we are reaffirming our Administration’s dedication to preventing this senseless violence and keeping our children, families, and communities safe.”
You can watch Thursday’s briefing in full below.