White House stressing safe gun storage in new initiative

by Brett Samuels - 01/25/24 9:22 AM ET

The White House on Thursday announced a series of actions emphasizing the importance of safe storage of weapons, the latest step in the Biden administration’s efforts to curtail gun violence.

The Department of Justice is releasing a guide to safe storage of firearms, a 14-page document that outlines how gun owners can properly store their weapons to prevent children or others in the home from accessing them.

The Education Department is sending a letter to school principals across the country to highlight the importance of safe gun storage and to encourage school officials to relay the significance of the issue to families and community leaders. The department is also putting out a communication template school leaders can use when talking with parents about firearm storage.

First lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will join other administration officials to host a town hall with school principals at the White House on Thursday to discuss the new actions.

The particular focus on safe gun storage stems from government data that shows 76 percent of school shootings are committed with guns found in the home or from a family member. The same percentage of unintentional shootings of children were committed with unsecured guns, the White House said.

The administration has taken repeated measures to try and curb gun violence, which continues to plague the country. Thursday’s announcement comes days after a 23-year-old man killed eight people just outside of Chicago. Authorities said he was related to most of the victims.

The White House in December released a list of recommended gun safety measures to be implemented at the state level. President Biden also established an Office of Gun Violence Prevention last fall.

The guidelines also come after lawmakers passed a bipartisan law in 2022 that increased funding for mental health, provided incentives for states to implement red flag laws and gave greater funding to schools for heightened security, among other reforms.