Rep. Malinowski Statement on Arrest of Would-Be Shooter at Tamaques Elementary

(Westfield NJ) Yesterday a lone gunman from Delaware sat in an elementary school parking lot in Westfield NJ, with a .45 caliber handgun, hollow point bullets, and 130 rounds of ammunition while children played outside.

I am forever grateful that a potential mass shooting was avoided in our community due to the quick work of the Westfield Police Department. But I struggle to take comfort in the knowledge that Tamaques Elementary students and teachers were able to return home safely last night when incidents like this one have become so common that we respond with passing indifference.

Earlier this week I was on the House floor commemorating June as Gun Violence Awareness Month and calling on Senator Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on common sense gun violence prevention laws. Two days later a would-be gunman cased a school in my district.

In New Jersey we do not honor conceal carry reciprocity; we have banned hollow point bullets; and we restrict magazines to 10 rounds of ammunition. We have extremely strong gun laws and one of the lowest rates of gun violence in the country. But some of our neighbors do not. As long as our nation’s firearm statutes are comprised of an inconsistent patchwork of state and local laws, those who wish to gun down children will always find the means to do so.

I’m long past done with thoughts and prayers. We need to be outraged and stay outraged until parents all over this country can send their children to school without fear. That can only happen with strong, federal laws that keep guns away from those who shouldn’t have them, and that deny would be mass shooters the advantage over those sworn to stop them. I am committed to seeing this fight through. We owe the parents of Westfield nothing less.