Hudson Slams Gun Bill Markup Debate as Missed Opportunity

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) issued the following statement on today's debate of gun control legislation in the House Judiciary Committee:

"I am disappointed and frustrated that today’s Judiciary markup has been a missed opportunity to achieve real progress. House Republicans want to save children’s lives and have come to the table with real solutions.

"Protecting children in schools should be our top priority, but President Biden’s press secretary said ‘that is not something he believes in.’

"Washington Democrats are ignoring the need to harden schools and improve mental health services so we can intervene with these young people before they reach a breaking point. 

"They are focused on advancing a radical gun control agenda that only targets law-abiding citizens. I am focused on solutions that build on the STOP School Violence Act to fund school resource officers and mental health, close loopholes in school security, and better equip law enforcement to address threats from an active shooter."

Rep. Hudson has been a leader in advancing common sense legislation to improve school safety and address gun violence. Solutions introduced by Rep. Hudson and House Republicans include:

STOP II: the Secure Every School and Protect our Nation’s Children Act (Rep. Richard Hudson)

• Provides additional funding to assess schools for security weakness, locate gaps in mental health services, hire School Resource Officers and Mental Health Guidance Counselors, and harden our nation’s schools. In addition, it creates a clearinghouse to identify, and share best practices related to school security. This legislation is paid for by a rescission of the Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds.

H.R. 1518 - 21st Century NICS Act (Rep. Tom Rice)

• Allows the FBI to access the N-Dex system when performing a background check under NICS for the potential sale of a firearm. This database aggregates criminal records from various local, state, and federal agencies to provide critical information to the criminal justice community. Had it been enacted, this bill may have prevented the Charleston shooting.

H.R. 194 – DOJ Report on NICS Prosecutions (Rep. Michael Burgess)

• This bill requires the Office of the Inspector General in the Department of Justice to report to Congress on the number of firearm transfer delayed denials issued under NICS that are referred to the ATF for investigation. The report must include prosecutions resulting from such investigations and the number of firearms recovered by the ATF, in cases where a denial was issued by the system after a firearm was transferred.

H.R. 1604 – STOP Straw Purchases Act (Rep. Don Bacon)

• This legislation would strengthen federal law and make it easier to prosecute criminal straw purchasers and gun traffickers. It will increase the maximum punishment for the purchaser and the receiver, who transfers a firearm with reasonable cause to believe that it will be used in a drug crime or a crime of violence, to include a fine up to $750,000, and a prison term for up to 25 years. Current law calls for a fine up to $250,000 and a prison term for up to 10 years.

H.R. 1642 – Prosecuting Gun Crimes Saves Lives Act (Rep. Nicole Malliotakis)

• This bill establishes requirements and authorities for the Department of Justice to take certain actions to address the illegal purchase and possession of firearms, including authorizing grants and establishing task forces to increase investigations and prosecutions of relevant offenses.

H.R. 1567 – The Police Officers Protecting Children Act (Rep. Vicky Hartzler)

• This legislation amends the Gun Free School Zones Act to allow certain qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement officers the ability to carry a concealed firearm onto school grounds if the local school board passes a policy allowing it. Law enforcement officers who have committed their lives to enforcing the law and keeping us safe are stripped of the ability to protect our children at school as soon as they clock out or retire. This bill ensures the federal government is not standing in the way of allowing those officers to provide protection to children in schools who choose to allow them to do so.

H.R.1229 - EAGLES Act (Reps. Deutch and Diaz-Balart) / S.391 - EAGLES Act (Senators Grassley, Cortez Masto, Collins, Manchin, Hassan, Rubio and Scott)

• This bill reauthorizes the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) within the U.S. Secret Service. It reauthorizes the functions of NTAC through FY2025 and expands them to include the establishment of a national program on targeted school violence prevention.

H.R.750 - Luke and Alex School Safety Act (Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart) / S. 111 – Luke and Alex School Safety Act (Senators Johnson, Rick Scott, Rubio, Grassley, Risch)

• This bill requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices for use by state and local educational and law-enforcement agencies, institutions of higher education, health professionals, and the public. Under the Trump Administration, www.SchoolSafety.Gov was established, this bill would codify into law, and have DHS as the lead where U.S. Secret Service, CISA, Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, National Operations Center, and Office of Partnership and Engagement is housed under.

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