The Congresswoman's Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act was introduced in the wake of the deadly shooting at Oxford High School

Press Release

The House of Representatives tonight passed the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) in the aftermath of the November 2021 shooting at Oxford High School. Slotkin's bill, which received bipartisan support, would require gun owners to safely store their firearms when kids could reasonably access them.

"The Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act is a serious, practical effort to address a safety issue that has taken American lives in Oxford and all across the country," said Slotkin. "There are millions of responsible gun owners in Michigan, including my own father. This bill will require gun owners to store or lock their firearms when children are present, and will hold them accountable when they fail to do so. At the end of the day, we all just want to keep our kids safe, and ensuring that firearms are properly stored is an essential part of that. I'm grateful to the other Representatives who supported this bill and I'll be working hard in the coming days and weeks to convince my Senate colleagues to bring it to the floor."

The bill would:

Require gun owners to safely secure their firearm when a child could reasonably access the firearm.
Impose a penalty of up to 5 years of prison time if a child does indeed access the gun, which they reasonably had access to, and uses the gun to injure themselves or others or uses the firearm in the commission of a crime.

BACKGROUND:

Experts estimate that more than 4.6 million minors in the U.S. live in homes with at least one loaded, unlocked firearm. Data shows that there were at least 2,070 unintentional shootings by children between 2015 and 2020 -- an average of nearly one shooting per day. Just last month, a 13-year old boy in Grand Rapids was accidentally shot and killed after playing with an unsecured firearm in the home of a friend's relative.

Studies have also shown that between 70% and 90% of guns used in youth suicides, unintentional shootings among children, and school shootings perpetrated by shooters under the age of 18 are acquired from the home or the homes of relatives or friends.

Source