Senator Murray Statement on New Federal Action to Expand Background Checks, Implement Bipartisan Gun Safety Law

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the final rule announced today by the Biden administration to implement the expansion of firearm background checks passed as part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Murray helped pass as then Assistant Majority Leader.

“Thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and President Biden’s leadership, this rule will help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, violent criminals, and other individuals who have no business purchasing firearms—and it takes us one step closer to universal background checks. No doubt, this will save lives.

“While Washington state has led the way to pass meaningful gun safety reform, a patchwork of good state laws is not sufficient; as long as I’m in Congress, I’ll keep fighting to advance commonsense gun safety laws—whether that’s an assault weapons ban or more funding to treat gun violence as the public health crisis it is.”

Senator Murray has long pushed for stronger gun violence prevention legislation and to make progress wherever possible. She helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which includes provisions that take steps to close the “boyfriend loophole,” enhance background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21, prohibit the use of federal education funding to purchase firearms or train in their use, school safety investments, investments in mental health access in schools and telehealth, and incentives for states to pass and administer red flag laws. Senator Murray has also pushed for popular reforms such as universal background checks, an assault weapons ban, extreme risk protection orders, and more. 

Additionally, Senator Murray has repeatedly fought to invest federal resources in gun violence prevention research. Notably, in 2020, Murray helped usher in the first federal funding for gun violence prevention research in decades and has successfully fought to sustain that funding every year since.  

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