‘Abhorrent:’ Rep. Maxwell Frost slams apparent closure of White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention

ORLANDO, Fla. – In an interview with News 6 on Wednesday, Congressman Maxwell Frost condemned President Donald Trump’s apparent decision to close the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Rep. Drost, D-Orlando, first brought his frustration to the attention of his X followers Tuesday, when he published a post that included a screenshot of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s web page. The message below the office’s title read: ‘PAGE NOT FOUND.’

“It’s completely abhorrent that the President on day two gets rid of an office that literally saves American lives,” Frost told News 6′s Mike Valente. “So we’re going to fight to get it back.”

The first bill Frost introduced as a member of Congress would have created an office to address gun violence. He also lobbied President Joe Biden to create such an office — which his White House ultimately did in 2023.

“In Orlando, Florida, we have received millions of federal dollars that I’ve brought down to help with this office to expand and extend the Orlando Office of Gun Violence Prevention,” Frost said. “Gun violence has actually gone down in the neighborhoods that that program exists and works in.”

[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]

Frost noted that this office was the first of its kind to address issues of gun violence in a “holistic” way.

“It acts as like a FEMA for localities after a mass shooting happens,” Frost explained. “Many shootings happened over the last several years and that office dispatched staff from the White House to go and help those cities work through all the federal programs and agencies to help people in the town.”

While Frost and gun control advocates were dismayed by this week’s news, proponents of gun rights celebrated it.

The National Rifle Association’s X account dismissed the office as one that was “used by the Biden administration to advance its anti-gun agenda and infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of peaceable Americans.”

Frost told News 6 that he has spoken to Republican colleagues who have expressed disappointment over the dissolution of the office. His belief that the issue transcends politics explains, in part, his optimism about a bill he plans to introduce to create a similar office to the one that was just eliminated.

In the meantime, he is worried that the elimination of the office could result in a slowdown of federal grant money being funneled to places like Orlando.

“Last year, the Surgeon General came out and declared that gun violence is a public health emergency,” Frost explained. “After that, we saw a very detailed report of how gun violence impacts our communities and looking at it from a scientific point of view. That was a collaboration between the Surgeon General’s Office and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. That’s all gone. Poof. Completely gone.”

Frost said he plans to introduce his bill within the next month.

If enacted, it would exist under the umbrella of the Department of Justice.

Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: