Democrat Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) And Jared Golden (Maine) voted Wednesday against the advancement of two gun laws, which were tabled in the House after last month’s mass shootings in Buffalo, New York. and Uvalde, Texas.
The pair of lawmakers voted “no” to a rule that establishes a vote on the Protection of Our Children Act, a package consisting of eight weapons measures, and the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Act, a bill which seeks to nationalize red-flag laws: which would allow courts to order the removal of firearms from people who are believed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Slotkin is the sponsor of the Safe Guns, Safe Kids Act, one of the measures included in the weapons package.
The rule also included a resolution condemning the “great replacement theory”: a theory of racist conspiracy, allegedly defended by Buffalo’s alleged gunman, which states that a deliberate effort is being made to replace white Americans with immigrants.
The resolution also condemned the Buffalo massacre, honored the victims of the shooting and reaffirmed the “commitment of the House to fight white supremacy, hatred and racial injustice.”
In addition, the rule consisted of a resolution providing for budget allocations.
The Hill contacted Slotkin and Golden for more information on their votes.
Slotkin joined a coalition of Democrats last week to write a letter to the House leadership, calling for the sweepstakes package measures to be given to individual votes. The group, led by MP Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), Argued that holding votes on each measure separately would maximize support for the Senate and increase the chances of bills clarifying the upper house.
The House, however, eventually moved forward with the legislation as a single package.
“We fully hope that each of these bills will be passed in the House, but as we focus on truly delivering a disadvantaged America, the passage of each bill individually will ensure that all the common sense measures we present “They can get to the U.S. Senate with maximum bipartisan support. You can get it, registered through individual votes, giving us the maximum chance to pass legislation to prevent armed violence in the Senate and pass it,” the letter reads.
Golden has opposed gun legislation in the past. In March 2021, the Maine Democrat voted against the bipartisan Background Check Act and the Enhanced Background Check Act. Both measures passed the House in a large part of the party line and have since stalled in the Senate.
In a statement following his vote against these measures, the congressman said: “I will oppose efforts to erode our existing background check system because I know that most Mainers support this system and want to that it works effectively and efficiently “.
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He also noted that one of the measures was an “almost mirror image” of an election initiative that was not approved in Maine in 2016 and noted the popularity of firearms in the state of Pine Tree.
“Many of my constituents have a proud tradition of responsible ownership of weapons,” Golden said. “For us, firearms are part of everyday life. From hunting to competitive shooting to self-defense, we believe that law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to access and possess firearms. “