The 26-year-old freshman US Congressman from Orlando, Maxwell Frost, is the former organizing director for March for Our Lives, the student-led organization created following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in February 2018, where 17 people were killed.
Frost had introduced legislation to establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and Friday at a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House, President Biden announced the creation of that office.
In addition to overseeing the implementation of last year’s “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” the new office within the DOJ will coordinate support for survivors, families, and communities affected by gun violence, identify new executive actions to reduce gun violence, and expand the “coalition of partners” to get more state and local gun safety laws passed.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was the first significant gun legislation since the passage of the Assault Weapons Ban in 1994. It clarifies who needs a federal license to buy and sell firearms; imposed enhanced background checks including reviewing juvenile mental health; prohibits someone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in a dating relationship from purchasing or possessing a firearm for at least five years and provides states with funding to implement extreme risk protection order programs.
About the writer: Matthew Woodruff is an Independent Journalist and Author who believes in Freely Accessible, Honest and Open Reporting.
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