The 2020 presidential election — which took place near the end of a tumultuous year that featured the rampant spread of a highly lethal pandemic, a disastrous economic recession and a long-overdue nationwide reckoning around systemic racism and police brutality — presented the country with a choice between two candidates with drastically different messages and visions for the nation. The election had historic levels of voter turnout, including among 18- to 29-year-olds and Joe Biden emerged as the clear winner with a victory that exceeded 300 electoral votes and a popular vote margin of victory of nearly 6 million (and growing).
Although public health experts have rightly been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic this year, America has been in the grips of another public health crisis for much longer — a gun violence epidemic that will continue to take lives long after we’re vaccinated unless bold steps are taken to curb the violence and address its underlying causes. Gun violence has continued unabated throughout the other crises of 2020 and acutely impacts Black, Indigenous and other communities of color.
In order to end the gun violence epidemic, the Biden-Harris administration must take a public health approach to solving the issue that not only corrects the harmful policies of the current administration but also goes significantly further to address the root causes of gun violence.
Brent J. Cohen
Over the last four years, the Trump administration largely turned a blind eye to the issue of gun violence, except to encourage gun ownership and traffic in irrational and often racist fear-mongering. The administration eliminated funds for violence intervention programs in favor of law enforcement suppression and weakened the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also worked alongside the administration to block common-sense gun legislation, including expanded background checks, closing the Charleston loophole and so-called “red flag laws,” also known as extreme risk protection orders. Furthermore, incendiary and racist rhetoric from the administration arguably played a role in inciting high-profile instances of gun violence, such as the El Paso, Texas, mass shooting and the recent murders of protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Some legislation has bipartisan voter support
Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 will undoubtedly mark a shift in tone for the White House and federal government. During the Obama administration, the nation made great strides in reducing gun violence, despite an obstructionist Senate that refused to consider gun legislation. However far too many people — especially young Black men — were killed by guns during those years too.
The Obama administration’s efforts — which included action on gun violence from a presidential administration that had previously only been aspirational — has now become the foundation for the Biden-Harris administration to build from, as simply returning to the pre-Trump status quo would be insufficient. The Biden-Harris campaign proposed a bold and comprehensive plan to tackle gun violence, and now the administration has a potentially legacy-defining opportunity over the next four years to move us closer toward ending this epidemic and save thousands of lives.
An early step for the administration to take is supporting key gun violence prevention legislation. Depending on the outcomes of the Georgia Senate race runoffs in January, Senate Majority Leader McConnell may continue to be a significant force of obstruction. But it is well past time for several obvious pieces of federal legislation — which currently enjoy widespread support from voters of both parties — to pass, including expanded background checks, extreme risk protection orders and a ban on assault weapons. Taking these steps will help to reduce the number of unaccounted-for guns in our communities and help remove weapons — at least temporarily — from those at heightened risk of committing violence against themselves or others.
Outside these major legislative proposals, the Biden-Harris administration should also prioritize investment in community-based efforts to end gun violence that are run and informed by those most impacted by it. Suggestions from gun violence prevention experts and community-led organizations include the creation of a federal office of violence prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services to support community-based violence intervention programs and increased federal funding for trauma-based health care, public health-focused research into gun violence and community-based violence intervention programs.
However, as important as it is to pass these pieces of legislation and as truly momentous as it would be to see significant and sustained federal investment in community-based solutions and gun violence research, to get to the true root of the gun violence epidemic that this country has struggled with for more than half a century we must collectively grapple with why the United States has such a high rate of gun violence compared to our peer nations. The Biden-Harris administration needs to understand why gun ownership has become intertwined with identity among some communities and where America has failed to live up to its promise of providing equal opportunity to its citizens.
That will require taking a hard, unflinching look on the legacy of racism in our country — both interpersonal and systemic — and the harms it has caused. And, it will require the Biden-Harris administration to address not just access to guns, but issues like economic mobility, educational opportunity, access to and quality of health care and police violence. It will not be easy, but if it puts in the necessary work, the Biden-Harris administration may ultimately be known as the administration that put us on the pathway to stopping the cycle of gun violence, trauma and harm and finally put an end to this deadly epidemic.
Brent J. Cohen is the executive director of Generation Progress, a youth advocacy and education organization that promotes progressive solutions to the political and social issues that matter to young people.