Harder Votes to Pass Commonsense Gun Safety Bill

Press Release

Today, Representative Josh Harder voted to pass the Protecting Our Kids Act to enact commonsense gun safety measures. In recent weeks, 31 people have been murdered and another 20 injured in mass shootings committed with semiautomatic assault rifles, including nineteen elementary schoolers and two teachers killed in Uvalde, Texas and ten people killed in Buffalo, New York.

"Our community knows firsthand the horrific toll that gun violence takes on all of us. It's been thirty years since the Cleveland Elementary shooting in Stockton and yet here we are again mourning for murdered children. We've had over 20 people shot in Stockton this year alone. I'm sick and tired of losing our loved ones to gun violence," said Rep. Harder. "California has strong gun laws on the books, but that only goes so far when a shooter can drive to the state next door and buy whatever he wants. We need commonsense federal action to keep our Valley families safe. That's why today I was proud to vote for the Protecting Our Kids Act, commonsense legislation to implement a national standard for gun safety. It's past time we acted."

Read the provisions in the Protecting Our Kids Act below:

Title 1: Raise the Age

This title would raise the lawful age to purchase a semiautomatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21 years old.

Title 2: Prevent Gun Trafficking

This title would establish a new federal offenses for gun trafficking and straw purchasers and authorize seizure of the property and proceeds of the offense.

Title 3: Untraceable Firearms

This title builds on ATF's 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.

Title 4: Safe Storage

This title would establish voluntary best practices for safe firearm storage; award grants for Safe Firearm Storage Assistance Programs; and provide a tax credit for 10% of amounts received from the retail sale of safe storage devices. This title would also establish requirements to regulate the storage of firearms on residential premises and create criminal penalties for violation of the requirements.

Title 5: Closing the Bump Stock Loophole

This title builds on ATF's regulatory bump stock ban by listing bump stocks under the National Firearms Act (like machineguns) and statutorily banning the manufacture, sale, or possession of bump stocks for civilian use.

Title 6: Keep Americans Safe

This title establishes a new federal offense for the import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity magazines, with exceptions for certain law enforcement uses and the possession (but not sale) of grandfathered magazines and allows state and local governments to use the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to compensate individuals who surrender large capacity magazines through a buyback program.

Title 7: Miscellaneous

This title requires the Department of Justice to submit a report on the demographic data of persons determined to be ineligible to purchase a firearm based on a NICS background check.

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