WASHINGTON– WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden said Thursday that “enough is enough” as she did her part to encourage school leaders to promote safe gun storage to help protect children.
Guns are the leading cause of death among American children.
A new initiative was announced at a White House event for school principals with the first lady and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Stefanie Feldman and Greg Jackson, both of the newly created White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, also participated.
Biden, who teaches English at a Virginia community college, told principals that parents trust them and she encouraged them to be part of the solution.
“You can show parents that they can help prevent the next shooting, the next suicide, the next accident,” she said.
The first lady said the question was about the president Joe Biden.
“It weighs on his heart every day and he won’t stop fighting until we fix this,” she said.
As part of the announcement, the Department of Justice is releasing a guide to safe firearm storage and the Department of Education will distribute materials to schools to share with families.
The administration has relied on initiatives like this, which involve limited executive action and promotion of voluntary measures, at a time when tougher gun control proposals are failing in Congress.
No federal law requires gun owners to lock their firearms, although the White House has encouraged implementation of such rules at the state level.
Jill Biden said the number of children lost to gun violence is “unfathomable.”
“Enough is enough. Enough pain. Enough death. No more burials,” she said. “I don’t want to have to put my hands on another cross with an 8-year-old’s name on it. We must change this.