Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has come out against a proposal to create a nationwide active shooter alert system, calling the effort an effort to “programme” citisens to “hate” the Second Amendment.
“It’s because they want you to be afraid of the Second Amendment. It’s because they want you to be afraid of responsible gun ownership,” Mr Gaetz, who has previously received money from gun groups, said on the House floor on Wednesday.
“They hope that if they programme you and bombard you long enough, that you’ll hate your own Second Amendment rights, or that you may tattle on your neighbour, who is lawfully and rightfully exercising theirs,” he added. “The American people should not fall for this.”
The bill, the Active Shooter Alert Act, was proposed in February, and would create a localised emergency alert system akin to the Amber Alert for missing children.
The legislation has bipartisan support in Congress and endorsement from law enforcement groups like the National Fraternal Order of Police.
“The Active Shooter Alert Act has broad bipartisan support and will pass the House this week. I am urging the Senate to follow suit, move this bill quickly, and get it to the President’s desk,” sponsor David Cicillini, Democrat of Rhode Island, told Spectrum News. “With active shooter events becoming all too common, we can’t afford to wait. This program will save lives.”
A previous attempt to pass the bill through a fast-tracked process failed in June, after sponsors couldn’t secure a two-thirds vote for the proposals.
Every day, 12 children die from gun violence in America, and another 32 are injured, according to Sandy Hook Promise, a gun safety advocacy organisation.
Firearms are the leading cause of death for US children and teens.
There have been 23,515 gun deaths across the US in 2022, according to the Gun Violence Archive, including some of the worst mass shootings in US history.
In June, President Biden signed a new gun safety bill, the first such legislation in the last three decades.
The law incentivises states to pass red flag laws and expands background checks and prohibitions on preventing those convicted of domestic abuse from getting guns.
