NewDEAL Leaders taking action on the Gun Crisis
Idea Category: Healthcare, Safety Net, Smart Government
Below are ten examples of the many ways NewDEAL members are working to make progress. NewDEAL urges leaders across the country to follow these example while also recognizing that federal action is desperately needed. We must not to let this moment pass without taking serious action to prevent gun violence.
- Columbia, SC Mayor Steve Benjamin is working to allow police to take away guns when the courts deem someone “an extreme risk”.
- Mayor John Cranley in Cincinnati is pushing for gun safety measures in his city by suing the state over a law prohibiting city action on gun reform.
- Pennsylvania Auditor General Euguene DePasquale rallied in support of an "Extreme Risk Protection bill" to allow police and family members to petition a judge to restrict a person's ability to possess firearms.
- The first bill Florida Representative Margaret Good filed in the 2019 Legislative Session was to regulate the transfer of firearms through background checks. (HB 135)
- Representing a district which President Trump won with 80% of the vote has not stopped Kentucky Representative Chris Harris from championing responsible gun reform in the wake of the Parkland shooting. His efforts include legislation to stop the Kentucky State Police from auctioning confiscated guns.
- Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan took action to prevent domestic abusers from possessing guns. (SB 472)
- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced funding to target straw purchases of guns and educate women about the dangers of the practice, recognizing that 80% of straw purchasers are women.
- The New Jersey Governor signed Senator Troy Singleton’s bill to make it a crime to solicit the transfer of a firearm by a disqualified person.
- Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, is trying to make his city safer by calling for a gun ban in city buildings and parks.
- Connecticut Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey sponsored legislation that banned guns without serial numbers, therefor putting an end to "ghost guns" in Connecticut. (HB 7219)


