Kaine Statement on House Passage of Critical Gun Safety Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement applauding the U.S. House of Representatives’ passing of the Protecting Our Kids Act, much-needed legislation to address gun violence:

“This week, I met with high school students in Arlington who had a crystal clear message for Congress: our lives are worth protecting. I couldn’t agree more, and I applaud my colleagues in the House for taking decisive action today to protect them. I’m going to keep pushing my colleagues in the Senate to do the same and save lives.”

The Protecting Our Kids Act would take various steps to reduce gun violence, including:

• Raising the lawful age to purchase a semiautomatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21 years old;
• Establishing a new federal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity magazine, with exceptions for certain law enforcement uses and the possession (but not sale) of grandfathered magazines;
• Establishing new federal offenses for gun trafficking;
• Establishing voluntary best practices for safe firearm storage and award grants for Safe Firearm Storage Assistance Programs; and
• Building on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’ regulatory ban of ghost guns by ensuring that ghost guns are subject to existing federal firearm regulation by amending the definition of “firearm” to include gun kits and partial receivers and changing the definition of “manufacturing firearms” to include assembling firearms using 3D printing.

Kaine, who served as Virginia’s governor during the Virginia Tech tragedy, continues to vocally call for the Senate passage of the Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence, legislation he crafted with Senator Warner to federally enact gun violence prevention measures passed in Virginia, including universal background checks, among other steps.

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