Green on Friday evening called the act “a small step and a movement in the right direction.”
The legislation implements several changes to gun safety laws, the mental health system and school safety programs. Although it was introduced in the fall, passage in both houses of Congress followed increased clamor to “do something” following two deadly mass shootings in May at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Green recently traveled from his Northridge home to meet with families whose loved ones were killed in Buffalo and Uvalde.
“I’m still grieving,” he said he tells them. “I don’t understand why God takes one broken heart to help heal other broken hearts.”
Green was with his father, 57-year-old Derrick Fudge of Springfield, who was one of the nine victims of the Aug. 4, 2019, mass shooting in Dayton.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
In memory of his father, Green, also a Springfield native, started the FUDGE Foundation — www.fudgefoundation.org. He relies on donations to travel to suffering communities to support those dealing with trauma.
“I don’t just do it for my father,” he said. “I do it for all the loves that are still here.”
His journey also has taken him to testify before the Ohio lawmakers and the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Our pain is what creates change,” he said.
Now, Green is headed to the White House. But it almost didn’t happen.
“Initially I thought it was spam,” Green said of the email invitation he received Thursday.
However, he said further investigation determined it was genuine, and he accepted the offer.
Green said of all the provisions in the new law, of particular interest is increasing the age to buy semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21, and the expansion of background checks for those younger than 21 to include juvenile records.
Read the statement of administration policy for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act:
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