House passes Active Shooter Alert Act, a similar system to Amber Alerts

The United States House of Representatives passed the Active Shooter Alert Act this week, seeking to set up a national system for reporting active shootings similar to the existing Amber Alert system.

The Act would allow law enforcement agencies to issue local alerts in active shooter situations and notify the public in real-time of developments, closures, and other pertinent information that would keep the public safer during active shooting situations.

The Act passed the House in a 260-169 vote, with all but one Democrat voting for the bill and 168 Republican House members voting against it. The lone Democrat who voted against the bill is Rep. Ron Kind (WI). Kind is not seeking reelection and has not commented publicly on his reasoning behind voting against the bill, but in the past also voted against closing a firearm background check loophole.

Rhode Island Democrat Rep. David Cicilline, who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) said the Act would establish an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network that would help keep the public safe and alert in situations like Highland Park on July 4 weekend, when the shooter was at large for eight hours after the mass shooting at a parade and was able to drive to Wisconsin, where he confessed to contemplating committing another shooting in Madison.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blasted Republicans who voted against the bill. “If your child were in a school where there was an assault, wouldn’t you want to know? How can these Republicans vote no?” she said in a weekly press briefing. “These people think their political survival is more important than the survival of our children.”

The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote.