Kaine & Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Protect Communities from Gun Violence

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and his Senate colleagues introduced the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act and the bipartisan Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act, two pieces of legislation that will help protect communities from gun violence by limiting large capacity ammunition feeding devices and prohibiting the sale of bump stocks, devices that are used to turn semiautomatic weapons into machine guns by increasing their rate of fire.

“No Virginian should live in fear of a mass shooting,” said Kaine. “There is so much more Congress can and must do to reduce the risk of gun violence, and I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing these bills to strengthen regulations on semiautomatic firearms and outlaw modification devices that can turn legal firearms into tools for mass shootings.”

The GOSAFE Act would regulate firearms based on their inherently dangerous and unusually lethal mechanisms, as opposed to focusing on a particular model of firearm or cosmetic features that can be easily modified. This would limit large capacity ammunition feeding devices and keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of individuals who should not have them.

The bipartisan BUMP Act would prohibit the sale of bump stocks and other devices or modifications that allow semiautomatic firearms to increase their rate of fire and effectively operate as fully automatic weapons.

Text of the GOSAFE Act is available here.

In addition to Kaine, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).

Text of the BUMP Act is available here.

In addition to Kaine, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Susan Collins (R-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Kaine has long supported legislation to prevent gun violence, including his Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, which would federally enact a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures adopted by Virginia. This legislation would mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy. In 2022, Kaine helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, landmark legislation passed in the wake of the horrific mass shootings in Uvalde, TX and Buffalo, NY to improve background checks, strengthen safeguards for victims of domestic violence, and create incentives for states to take the initiative to remove firearms from individuals who pose a high risk of harming themselves or others.

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