West Palm Beach, FL – Today, Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21) released the following statement after she voted along with House Democrats to pass both the Protecting Our Kids Act and the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act to save lives and keep communities safe.

“No parent should fear for their child’s life when their child goes to school, the grocery store, their church, a movie theater, or anywhere else they are supposed to be safe. Guns are the number one killer of children in America—more than car accidents or cancer—it’s horrendous but preventable,” said Rep. Frankel, voting for The Protecting Our Kids Act.

“And the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, similar to the Florida law, is a common-sense, effective measure to empower family members, health care providers, school officials, or law enforcement officers to petition a court to temporarily prevent a person from accessing firearms if they are found to be a danger to themselves or others.

“Both these bills would enact sensible policies to keep our children and families safe from the horrors of gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves and others. It’s time to put the lives of our families over politics and make these common-sense measures law.” 

The Protecting Our Kids Act and Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act will reduce gun violence by:

• Raising the purchasing age for semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21 years old.
• Cracking down on gun trafficking and pass-through purchases to get illegal guns off our streets.
• Subjecting ghost gun purchases to background check requirements.
• Strengthening safe storage requirements to protect children from accidental shootings.
• Closing the bump stock loophole to ban these deadly tools from civilian use.
• Outlawing high-capacity magazines, which are designed for killing en masse and have been the accessory of choice in the bloodiest mass shootings.
• Requiring an annual report of demographic data of those being determined to be ineligible to purchase guns.
• Keeping guns out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves or others by implementing a nationwide extreme risk law and encouraging states to enact their own.

Both bills passed by the House and now head to the Senate for their approval.

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