Slotkin to introduce legislation to fund research on gun violence epidemic
(CBS DETROIT) - Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey will reintroduce legislation to provide funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research the ongoing gun violence epidemic.
The Gun Violence Prevention Research Act would provide $50 million each fiscal year for the next five years towards the CDC's research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention.
Slotkin and Markey are expected to introduce this legislation during a press conference at Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon.
The two will be joined by Dylan Morris and Devin Woodruff, who survived the mass shootings at Oxford High School and Michigan State University.
Slotkin had represented Oxford at the time of the shooting that killed four students and injured six students and one teacher and East Lansing during the recent shooting at Michigan State University that killed three students and injured five others.
In addition to the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act, Slotkin has introduced two other bills in the House related to gun safety. These bills include the following:
- The No Crime Left Behind Act, which would prohibit the transfer of a firearm to a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor in which a firearm was used, carried, or possessed, for three years following conviction; and
- The Pause for Safety Act, which would require a one-week waiting or "cooling off" period before a person may receive a firearm.
"Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among American children, and in Oxford and at MSU, I've seen the long-term pain and trauma these tragedies inflict on entire communities," said Slotkin. "So have Dylan and Devin - the Oxford and MSU students joining us today who have survived both. We, as a society, need to step up and decide to protect our kids so that an entire generation of young Americans isn't defined by gun violence. The bills I'm introducing today, including one that was written based on the circumstances of the shooting at MSU - are a step towards addressing this epidemic. Preventing more gun violence in our schools and on our streets is a matter of homeland security - not politics. These bills take concrete actions to make it harder for people to commit acts of violence with a gun. As elected officials, our most basic responsibility is to protect our children from the things that are truly harming them, and this package of legislation will help us save lives by addressing some of the root causes of the gun violence epidemic."