ORLANDO, Fla. – A Central Florida congressman wants to reopen an office that sought solutions for gun violence that President Donald Trump shuttered last month.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, introduced the Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act in Congress Thursday.
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The bill would establish a permanent office focused on gun violence prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Frost lobbied the White House to create a similar office, which former President Biden did in 2023.
“That worked at bringing together -- gun owners, clergy, law enforcement, everybody coming together to find ways to end gun violence, to help cities, towns and states do the same thing,” Frost said at a news conference Thursday.
The office helped create interagency coordination on gun violence and prevention programs, invested in community violence prevention programs and looked for ways to better deal with gun trafficking.
However, Trump issued an executive order closing the office when he came to power.
“It wasn’t a political office about Democrats vs. Republicans,” Frost said. “It was about the people vs. the problem.”
The office was established a year after passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major federal gun safety bill passed in nearly three decades.
Frost, the first Gen-Z congressman, ran for office on a platform of fighting gun violence.
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