U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said she was “filled with rage” on Tuesday, one day after a mass shooting on the campus of Michigan State University that left three students dead and five critically wounded.
Slotkin currently serves in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. Before redistricting, she was the representative in the state’s 8th Congressional District, which included Oxford.
On Nov. 30, 2021, a mass shooter at Oxford High School killed four people and injured seven.
“As a representative of Oxford, Michigan, I cannot believe that I'm here again doing this 15 months later,” Slotkin said. “I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference to talk about our children being killed in their schools. And I would say that you either care about protecting kids or you don't. You either care about having an open and honest conversation about what is going on in our society, or you don't.”
Gunman kills 3, then himself at Michigan State University
Officials do not know why the 43-year-old man targeted the campus. He was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with the university.
In the days following the Oxford school shooting, she proposed the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, which would have required firearms on residential premises to be safely stored if a minor is reasonably likely to gain access without permission, and hold parents accountable if a minor obtains the firearm and uses it in a crime or causes injury or death to themselves or another individual, according to a summary of the bill.
The proposal was later incorporated into a broader House bill called the Protecting Our Kids Act. The legislation passed in the House with five Republicans joining all but two Democrats.
Although the legislation had the backing of the White House and several Republicans, it did not have support from the National Rifle Association. That bill did not get a vote in the Senate.
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“H.R. 7910 includes several ‘safe storage’ mandates that would control how individual Americans keep firearms in their own homes. These provisions are in direct contravention to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in (District of Columbia v. Heller) that held mandatory storage provisions that prevent a law-abiding American from having ready access to a firearm for self-defense are unconstitutional,” the National Rifle Association said.
Responding to another mass shooting clearly frustrated the Michigan congressperson.
“Please don't tell me you care about the safety of children if you're not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary,” she said.
