Everytown Applauds Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability for Roundtable Highlighting Toll of Gun Violence on Schools and Youth

WASHINGTON - Yesterday, Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability held a roundtable examining the long-term consequences of our nation's gun violence epidemic for children, teenagers, and their communities with a panel of school leaders, advocates, and gun violence experts - including Sarah Burd-Sharps, Senior Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety.

"As taxpayers, we all pay for the enormous cost associated with gun violence - however, in states with stronger gun laws, local violence intervention programs, and fewer gun injuries and fatalities, the economic toll is far less," said Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research at Everytown for Gun Safety. "Our research clearly shows we're spending precious funds on an epidemic that brings nothing of benefit and plenty of heartbreak and shattered lives."

"Extremist lawmakers are refusing to pass even the most basic gun safety measures, and our children are paying the price," said John Feinblatt,president of Everytown for Gun Safety. "Kids should be running towards their dreams, not running for their lives, and we applaud those leaders who are fighting tirelessly to keep our schools and communities safe from gun violence."

Gun safety laws save lives. To prevent more incidents of violence on school grounds, lawmakers should pass gun safety legislation, including:

• Passing secure storage laws, to help ensure that children and teens cannot access guns and prevent school shootings, youth firearm suicides, and unintentional shootings.
• Enacting Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws, which authorize courts to, on the basis of evidence, temporarily remove firearms from individuals who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others.
• Requiring background checks on all gun sales to prevent minors and people prohibited from possessing firearms and from buying guns from unlicensed sellers at gun shows or online with no questions asked.
• Raising the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles and handguns to 21, which can help prevent minors from obtaining assault weapons and many other semi-automatic guns.
• Prohibiting assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, which can prevent mass shooting injuries and deaths caused by weapons designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible.
• Repealing arming teachers laws, which puts whole schools at greater risk.