Representatives Kaptur and James Introduce Bipartisan IMPROVE Safety for Schools Act to Promote Gun Safety in Schools and for Families

Washington, DC – Today Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) and Congressman John James (MI-10) introduced a bipartisan bill, The IMPROVE (Incentivize Motivated Parents with Responsible Options for Vital Education) Safety for Schools Act, which creates a nonrefundable tax credit of $300 to incentivize parents/guardians to purchase firearm safety devices including a gun safe, storage item, or gun lock to improve gun safety at home. The legislation will help ensure children do not have unsupervised access to firearms or the ability to take them without knowledge of an adult. The bill also provides de-escalation training for local education agencies and guidance to families on the importance of safe storage, while expanding SchoolSafety.gov to other social media platforms to reach a wider audience and give greater ability to spread information to those who need it most. A one-pager on the IMPROVE Safety for Schools Act can be found by clicking here.

“Today the leading cause of death for children across our country is gun violence — a scourge that has taken a terrible toll on America’s families. We are introducing the bipartisan IMPROVE Safety for Schools Act to help make our children, families, schools, and communities safer,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. “The bill expands firearm safety information available for parents, establishes a $300 non-refundable tax credit for firearm safety technologies including gun locks and gun safes, and expands access to information about gun safety through multiple avenues. I look forward to working together with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to enact this bipartisan common sense legislation.”

“My generation was still in school when the Columbine Massacre happened. I know what it’s like to walk into class with the fear that I may not walk out. Now as the father of three school-aged boys, I pray every day that the Lord allows them to return home safe and sound. It’s insane that millions of parents have to make that prayer every day in America. It’s incensing that dozens of parents’ prayers have not been answered in a generation,” said Congressman John James. “Prayer is powerful but we must do more than pray. We must change policy too. The Second Amendment is not optional, and neither is keeping our kids safe from violence. We deserve an America that can protect itself from tyranny without leaving its children vulnerable to terrorism. Gun deaths are symptoms of cultural decay and hopelessness in America. Doing nothing to address those symptoms is unacceptable, which is why I’m proud to introduce this commonsense school safety package to the U.S. House of Representatives. We are tackling an area that seems to have the least number of solutions - school safety - by first addressing mental health and constitutional responsibility from both sides of the aisle with this bipartisan bill.”

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