On Tuesday, a gunman walked into an elementary school outside San Antonio and killed 19 children and two teachers.
This tragedy follows the Oxford High School school shooting that happened in our home state in late November.
While many communities and families are grieving, many are looking at Washington D.C. to see what will put an end to mass shootings.
On Wednesday, Local 4 reached out to every Michigan lawmaker in Congress and asked them an open question about the shooting trend.
What, if anything, are you going to do to stop or at least reduce the number of school shootings in this country?
“The lack of humanity sitting there and saying we can’t do anything. My God! We’ve normalized school shootings like this in our country, and it’s devastating. These poor parents and people are against sending their kids to school, and they’re not coming back home. Why? Because of a Jim Crow-type law called the filibuster,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib told Local 4.
Related: Texas school shooting: Parents submitted DNA samples to ID children shot, killed in classroom
The increasing use of the filibuster essentially means legislation needs 60 votes to pass the senate instead of a simple majority.
According to The Brookings Institution , filibusters became a regular feature of Senate activity around the time of the Civil War.
Click here to learn more about filibusters and how they could change in the future.
On the Senate floor, Senator Debbie Stabenow asked republicans to help pass anything.
“We gotta do what is necessary at this moment. This is a huge crisis. People should be able to grocery shop without getting killed,” said Tlaib. “They should be able to send their kids to school so they can come home and they can tuck them in. This all is happening because this small minority has this power under the filibuster. Enough is enough. We gotta move forward. "
Below are statements from Michigan lawmakers about school shootings: Jack Bergman (R-MI 1ST)
*Did not respond
Bill Huizenga (R-MI 2ND)
Peter Meijer (R-MI 3RD) (Emily Taylor)
*Did not provide statement
John Moolenaar (R-MI 4TH) (D Russell)
*Did not respond
Dan Kildee (D-MI 5TH) (Montgomery)
“In recent days we have seen horrific violence, first in a racially-motivated shooting at a grocery store in New York, and now at an elementary school in Texas. We must acknowledge that these senseless mass shootings do not happen with such frequency in other developed countries. We are not helpless. We can choose to act to pass commonsense gun laws to make it harder for bad people to get a deadly weapon, including universal background checks, limiting high-capacity magazines and closing the gun show loophole. No one law may stop every bad person with a gun, but we have to act and stop the madness. Thoughts and prayers are not enough.”
Dan Kildee Fred Upton (R-MI 6TH)
“I have voted for HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, I pushed Congress to fully fund the STOP School Violence Act which awarded more than $125 million in grants last year, and I would support a federal program to encourage states to enact red flag laws.”
Fred Upton Tim Walberg (R-MI 7TH) (Dan Kotman)
*Did not respond
Elissa Slotkin (D-MI 8TH)
“When our children don’t feel safe in their own schools, something has gone terribly wrong. Despite all the young lives taken from us in these shootings, including in Oxford, we still haven’t taken any concrete steps to keep our kids safe.
“By chance, I had already been scheduled to spend the afternoon in Oxford, one day after the tragedy in Uvalde, to meet with school officials, first responders, and local leaders who, just 6 months ago, were thrust into a similarly horrific emergency. Also by chance, I am giving the graduation speech at the Oxford Virtual Academy tonight. To say that I struggled with what to say is an understatement. On November 30th, Oxford joined the groups of devastated schools in Newtown, Parkland and so many others, and yesterday’s shooting was like picking off a new scab. We are also just starting to see firsthand the long-term consequences of this community trauma.
“One of the hardest things to explain is why nothing has changed in the 6 months since the attack in Oxford, and all the years before that. The truth is, we have a number of potential solutions at our fingertips. Last year, the House passed H.R. 8, which is a bipartisan background checks bill that has been stuck in the Senate ever since. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, which I’m a part of, has also endorsed steps like banning bump stocks and expanding mental health services at our schools. In the wake of the Oxford shooting, I proposed the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, which would require safe and proper storage of firearms in households to prevent children and others from illegally accessing the weapon. It mirrors the state bill that was just voted down today in the Michigan Senate. To be clear, there is no shortage of proposals for how to deal with mass shootings. There is a shortage of courage to take on this issue in a practical, straightforward way.
“So let there be a vote in the senate. Let every elected official be on record, just as they were today in the Michigan Senate. Senator Schumer should immediately bring these bills to the floor to put every Senator on the record. These proposals shouldn’t be controversial and they shouldn’t be partisan. Hiding under a rock and doing nothing is not an option if you care about kids more than your own career.”
Elissa Slotkin Andy Levin (D-MI 9TH) (Washington)
“Our country is in a flat-out crisis. We have a gun violence epidemic that cannot be explained by anything other than the sickeningly easy access to guns. We are the only developed country where we frequently see these types of mass shootings. Our schools, places of worship and even grocery stores are not safe. Enough is enough.
There are several proposals I support to deal with gun violence. The House passed a background check bill and closed the “Charleston loophole.” I introduced a bill, the Protect Children Through Safe Gun Ownership Act which protects schools and children by limiting the transfer to or unsupervised use of handguns by minors, requiring that firearms be stored in a secure fashion and providing grants to school districts to educate parents and children on the need to secure firearms safely. My colleagues also have many great ideas which I support, such as “red flag” laws that prevent dangerous individuals from accessing firearms.
But the issue is not a lack of ideas but a lack of political will. The 50-50 Senate has failed to act because of the filibuster—a relic of the Jim Crow era—and an entire political party that is captured by the NRA. If we fail to act, it will no longer be a question of if but when we see more tragedies like Sandy Hook, Parkland, Oakland, Buffalo and Uvalde.”
Andy Levin Lisa McClain (R-MI 10TH) (Kearney)
My heart truly breaks for the children and teachers who lost their lives in the tragedy in Uvalde. I don’t understand the type of evil that would lead someone to commit such a heinous act.
Unfortunately, amidst this tragedy, many of my colleagues will say that it is time to take away law-abiding citizens’ Constitutional right to bear arms.
However, we must remember that it was not a law-abiding citizen who caused the tragedy yesterday. The shooter shot his own grandmother and innocent children. He was a mentally disturbed individual who didn’t care about following gun laws.
The real issue here is mental health, not gun laws. Mental illness is on the rise due in part to unnecessary COVID lockdowns. Congress has been inactive on mental health for far too long, and that is where the focus of legislative efforts should be.
Congress Woman Lisa McClain Haley Stevens (D-MI 11TH)
*Did not respond
Debbie Dingell (D-MI 12TH)
Rashida Tlaib (D-MI 13TH)
“While the gun lobby often claims that school shootings cannot be prevented, we know that gun laws like child access prevention laws, extreme risk protection orders, and the raising minimum age can help prevent shootings and save lives.
We have to do what is necessary at this moment. This is a huge crisis. People should be able to grocery shop without getting killed. They should be able to send their kids to school so they can come home and they can tuck them in. This all is happening because this small minority has this power under the filibuster. Enough is enough we have to move forward.”
Rashida Tlaib Brenda Lawrence (D-MI 14TH)
“I’m angry, furious, and horrified that another community in America is devastated by senseless gun violence. Just a week after Black Americans were gunned down at a grocery store and Asian Americans were gunned down at a church, 19 children and two teachers were gunned down at a school in Uvalde, Texas. This is also nearly six months after the Oxford High School Shooting where four Michigan students were killed and others were injured. Gun violence is an epidemic in our country and a uniquely American problem. I don’t know how many times I need to say this: enough is enough.
“The House already passed two common-sense gun safety bills back in March 2021. They include background checks, which an overwhelming majority of Americans support. But Republican Senators would rather block these pieces of legislation and cater to the NRA than save the lives of our children. It’s disgusting and shameful. The American people deserve to go to school, the grocery store, a movie theatre, a spa, their place of worship, and anywhere else in the United States without worrying that they might get killed. When will Republican leaders finally get a backbone and join Democrats in keeping our country safe? Inaction is not an option. I will keep sounding the alarm on this issue and putting pressure on my congressional colleagues because doing anything less would be unacceptable.”
Brenda Lawrence Related: Parents of suspected Oxford school shooter claim they can’t get fair trial in Oakland County, request move
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
“We don’t have to live like this. We don’t have to live in a situation where people are afraid to go to their place of worship, afraid to go to the grocery store, afraid to just live because of a shooting where someone got a hold of a gun, a military assault weapon or didn’t have to go through a background check.”
“The question is how many Republicans will join us to save children’s lives from gun violence. How many? Can we just get started? Leader Schumer has put 2 bills on the calendar related to background checks. These are not controversial. Nearly 90% of the public says ‘of course.’ This is not rocket science. We know what to do.”
Senator Debbie Stabnow from her speech on the Senate floor 5/25/2022 Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)
“I am absolutely heartbroken over the senseless loss of life in Uvalde, Texas. These were children with their whole lives ahead of them and teachers who dedicated their lives to others. They should have all come home safely last night.
“We cannot accept these repeated shootings as a normal occurrence in our country, and we cannot let politics stop us from taking action. There are commonsense gun safety measures supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans, and the Senate must start by passing bipartisan legislation that advanced out of the House to strengthen background checks.”
Senator Gary Peters Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.
