2025-06

EMERGENCY RESOLUTION:

Enacting and Funding Community Violence Intervention and Firearm Dealer Accountability Programs to Prevent Gun Violence

and

Calling on Congress to Restore Successful Grants and Reorganize and Strengthen Gun Violence Prevention and Enforcement

Sponsored by
Rep. Carlos González (MA) and Asmb. Jessica González Rojas (NY)

Reported to the Caucus by the
NHCSL Law and Criminal Justice Task Force

Sen. Antonio Maestas (NM), Chair

Unanimously approved by the NHCSL Executive Committee on behalf of the entire Caucus on August 5, 2025

WHEREAS, nearly 5,000 Hispanic people die from gun violence in the United States each year, at rates disproportionate to their peers;[1] and,

WHEREAS, over 36 percent of gun deaths among Hispanic people are suicides each year,[2] and the rate of gun suicide among young Hispanic people has increased 110 percent over the past decade, higher than the increase among young people overall;[3] and,

WHEREAS, Hispanic people are more than two times more likely to die by gun homicide and four times more likely to be wounded by an assault with a gun than white people;[4] and,

WHEREAS, in Resolution 2018-10, Common Sense Gun Safety to Prevent Terrorism and School Massacres, this Caucus called for several policies to reduce needless firearms mortality. Among them, generally making 21 years-old the minimum age[5] to buy or acquire firearms; forbidding certain types of weapons, accessories and modifications; requiring comprehensive background checks and waiting periods for all sales or transfers making the seller or transferor personally liable otherwise;  enacting Extreme Risk Laws; ending the practice of giving confiscated weapons to family members; and, rejecting armed-teacher proposals; and,

WHEREAS, in Resolution 2024-16, Secure Weapons Storage, this Caucus added to those policies by advocating for improved secure-storage laws applicable to homes and vehicles; requiring owners report lost and stolen firearms to law enforcement; and calling for storage safety awareness campaigns; and,

WHEREAS, in Resolution No. 2021-19, Targeting the Data Gaps in Gun Violence and Police Use of Force, this Caucus called on states to fund data collection infrastructure and new research into gun violence and its causes, including to evaluate suicide, nonfatal assaults, unintentional shootings, and non-training firearm discharges by law enforcement; the creation of permanent state offices of gun violence prevention and permanent research institutes to study gun violence in their communities and to evaluate and recommend potential policy solutions; and the collection and public dissemination of data on police use of force, as well as accountability and transparency on police disciplinary procedures and outcomes after any use of force incidents, especially deadly force, including by requiring to the furthest extent possible that state and local law enforcement agencies collect and publish those data; and,

I. Funding gun violence prevention efforts saves lives

WHEREAS, community violence intervention (CVI) programs provide community-informed, comprehensive support to individuals who are at the greatest risk of gunshot victimization and are critical for reducing violence in cities with complex violence ecosystems; and,

WHEREAS, CVI programs are shown to reduce gunshot woundings and deaths in the neighborhoods most impacted by gun violence, and gun homicide has significantly declined in cities across the nation from a post-pandemic spike due in part to the scaling and city coordination efforts with community violence intervention organizations working in cities across the country; and,

WHEREAS, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention was established in 2023 and was tasked with coordinating the federal response to mass shootings and concentrations of community gun violence, expanding state and local partnerships to help reduce gun violence, developing and implementing executive actions on gun safety to save lives, and implementing federal gun violence prevention laws including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which, among other things, provided $250 million in funding to support CVI programs and has helped expand services and provide the resources to help bring 14,000 additional mental health professionals into U.S. schools; and,

WHEREAS, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), an agency of the Department of Justice, is tasked with enforcing our nation’s gun laws, including providing appropriate oversight and discipline to the nearly 78,000 licensed gun dealers in the United States,[6] from which firearms go missing in roughly five incidents per day; and,

WHEREAS, but ATF also enforces the topically unrelated illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products; and,

WHEREAS, separately, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), an agency of the Department of the Treasury, is tasked with collecting the federal taxes on firearms and ammunition,[7] while it also collects taxes on the wholly unrelated alcohol and tobacco industries;[8] and,

WHEREAS, strong gun dealer regulations and oversight are critical to public safety, with one study finding that in-state trafficking was 64% lower in places with strong gun dealer regulations and oversight,[9] and another study finding that state licensing requirements and laws requiring or allowing inspections or audits of gun dealers were independently associated with significantly lower firearm homicide rates;[10] and,

II. The Trump Administration Has Attacked Gun Violence Prevention Policies, Funding, and Public Safety

WHEREAS, earlier this year, the United States Department of Justice cut more than $811 million in public safety grants nationwide, including nearly $169 million in funding for CVI programs;[11] and,

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Education cancelled $1 billion in grants to provide mental health support to students, undermining the historic investment in school-based mental health support created by BSCA;[12] and,

WHEREAS, President Trump shuttered the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention; and,

WHEREAS, President Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget includes a $468 million reduction in ATF budget, and the budget summary includes a plan to cut the number of inspectors who oversee federally licensed gun dealers by two-thirds,[13] despite the historical underfunding of ATF and ATF’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget request to add nearly 600 positions and $208.1 million in program enhancements to support ATF’s mission objectives;[14] and,

WHEREAS, ATF repealed its “zero tolerance” policy, pursuant to which ATF sought to revoke firearm dealer licenses the first time dealers violate certain federal firearm laws, including failing to run a background check, transferring a firearm to a prohibited person, and falsifying business records;[15] and,

WHEREAS, ATF is now encouraging dealers who had their licenses revoked under ATF’s zero tolerance policy, or who had their applications denied after willfully violating the law, to reapply under a new policy with more lenient standards;[16] and,

WHEREAS, these funding cuts and policy reversals undermine successful crime prevention work in states across the country, which could reverse the ongoing decline in violent crime that has come about, in part, due to strong federal support for these programs if states do not make up the shortfall until the federal funding can be restored; and,

WHEREAS, robust state policy can mitigate some of the harm from this unprecedented and severe shift in the federal gun safety landscape, to protect our communities from a potential increase in violent crime, and to steer a path where public safety remains a core priority.

III. Conclusions

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators urges its members and the several states and territories to file and enact legislation to provide robust funding for investments into policies and programs that are proven to reduce gun violence, including Community Violence Intervention programs, which are vital to public safety; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators urges its members and the several states and territories to file and enact legislation to create new, sustainable funding streams by imposing excise taxes on the sales of firearms and ammunition, with the proceeds used exclusively to fund gun violence prevention programs, including CVI programs, which should be supervised by the state gun violence prevention offices this Caucus advocated for in Resolution 2021-19; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators, recalling that Resolution 2018-10 already calls for requiring comprehensive background checks and waiting periods for all sales or transfers making the seller or transferor personally liable otherwise, now further urges its members and the several states and territories to file and enact legislation to require firearm dealers to obtain a license from state or local authorities in order to sell firearms, including setting strong standards and monitoring compliance, and revoking licenses from dealers who break the law; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators urges its members and the several states and territories to file and enact legislation to establish a ‘gun dealer code of conduct’ to ensure gun dealers act responsibly and to guard against known threats like gun theft and trafficking; and,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators calls on Congress and the President to:

1. revert the cuts to the $169 million in Department of Justice CVI funding and make the program permanently funded by appropriations;
2. revert the cuts and grow the $1 billion in Department of Education grants to provide mental health support to students;
3. refund states any monies they had to spend to mitigate the above cuts;
4. restore and enact into law the equivalent of the ATF “zero tolerance” policy, to revoke dealer licenses the first time firearm dealers violate certain federal firearm laws, including failing to run a background check, transferring a firearm to a prohibited person, and falsifying business records; review and undo any dealer license restorations or approvals under more lenient standards if they would not comply under the zero tolerance policy;
5. fully fund the ATF including adding the positions it needs to fulfill its duties per its FY25 budget request;
6. enact the Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2025 (S.595, H.R.1307) or similar legislation to make permanent the whole-of-government approach to fight gun violence started by the now closed White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention; and,
7. improve the language of the above bills[17] by elevating the proposed office to an Agency for Gun Violence Prevention (GVP) in the Department of Justice and transferring and ascribing to the new GVP the ATF portfolio on firearms, and the TTB portfolio on firearms and ammunition, making the GVP the lead agency on all matters related to firearms.[18]

IN ITS MEETING OF JULY 28, 2025, THE NHCSL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDED THIS RESOLUTION TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR APPROVAL.

AT THE REQUEST OF THE NHCSL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE TASK FORCE, AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS PROCEES OUTLINED IN THE BYLAWS, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED THIS RESOLUTION, ON BEHALF OF THE CAUCUS, ON AUGUST 5, 2025, AT ITS MEETING IN BOSTON, MA.

[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using data from 2018 to 2022.

[2] Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. Percent change in crude rates: 2013–2022. Ages 10–24.

[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using data from 2018 to 2021. A percent change was calculated using 2012 and 2021 crude rates. Ages 10 to 24.

[4] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, WONDER Online Database, Underlying Cause of Death. A yearly average was developed using five years of the most recent available data: 2018 to 2022. Rates are age-adjusted. Latinx defined as all races of Latinx origin. White defined as non-Latinx origin. Homicide includes shootings by police; Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, “A More Complete Picture: The Contours of Gun Injury in the United States,” December 2020, https://every.tw/33Hto3F.

[5] The Resolution provided some exceptions.

[6] This total does not include Type 3 license holders, who are not permitted to sell firearms and thus are not engaged in the business of firearm sales. Everytown Research analysis of ATF, Monthly Federal Firearms Listings, 2022.

[7] TTB, Current Firearms and Ammunition Tax Rates.

[8] Beer, Wine, Distilled Spirits, Tobacco Products, and Cigarette Papers/Tubes.

[9] Webster, Vernick, & Bulzacchelli, “Effects of state-level firearm seller accountability policies on firearm trafficking,” Journal of Urban Health (2009), https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9351-x.

[10] Irvin, et al., “Evaluating the effects of state regulation of federally licensed firearms dealers on firearm homicide,” Am J Public Health (2014), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4103238/.

[11] Reuters, “US Justice Dept grant cuts valued at $811 million, people and records say,” April 24, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-justice-dept-grant-cuts-valued-811-million-people-familiar-say-2025-04-24/.

[12] NPR, “Education Department stops $1 billion in funding for school mental health”, May 1, 2025, https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/nx-s1-5382582/trump-school-mental-health.

[13] New York Times, “Justice Dept. to Cut Two-Thirds of Inspectors Monitoring Gun Sales.” June 18, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/us/politics/justice-dept-guns-atf-trump.html

[14] ATF, “Fiscal Year 2025 Performance Budget CJ/PB Submission,” February 2024, https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/docs/undefined/fy2025congressionalbudgetsubmission508cpdf/download

[15] ATF Press Release, “DOJ, ATF Repeal FFL Inspection Policy and Begin Review of Two Final Rules,” April 7, 2025,www.atf.gov/news/press-releases/doj-atf-repeal-ffl-inspection-policy-and-begin-review-two-final-rules

[16] ATF, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” May 21, 2025, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/protecting-second-amendment-rights.

[17] H.R.1307 (Rep. Frost and 110 original cosponsors) and S.595 (Sen. Murphy and Sens. Baldwin, Blumenthal, Booker, Klobuchar, Schatz, Schiff and Van Hollen) (119^th Congress)

[18] Reorganizing the remaining functions of the ATF to alcohol, tobacco, explosives, arson, bombings, and terrorism; and of the TTB relating to alcohol and tobacco (and of the FDA relating to tobacco) is beyond the scope of this resolution.