LANSING, Mich. — Today, a coalition of gun violence prevention organizations united to issue the following statements, urging Michigan lawmakers to prioritize passing critical gun violence prevention legislation in the last days of the 2024 legislation session. Everytown for Gun Safety, and its grassroots network of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, Brady United, GIFFORDS, and End Gun Violence Michigan issued the following statements urging Senate and House lawmakers to take action in their respective chambers.
In the House, the policies ready to be advanced includes:
- Legislation to ban ghost guns (SB 1149/1150);
- Legislation to ban bump stocks (SB 942);
- Legislation banning Guns in the Capitol (SB 857/858), and
- Donna’s law, which would create a voluntary do-not-sell list (SB 1086).
In the Senate, the gun violence prevention policies ready to be advanced includes:
- Legislation to facilitate Medicaid reimbursement for critical services provided by community violence intervention organizations (HB 6046);
- Legislation to require secure firearm storage notifications in schools (HB 5450);
- Legislation to dedicate funding from the Public Safety Trust Fund to gun violence prevention (HB 4606);
- Legislation to ensure crime guns and guns collected from buyback programs are destroyed. (HB 6144/6145/6146).
“Gun violence continues to devastate families and communities across Michigan and lawmakers should secure their legacy by passing critical gun safety legislation during these last few days of lame duck session,” said Monisha Henley, senior vice president of government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety. “With just days left, Michigan lawmakers have no time to waste, they must take action to regulate ghost guns and bump stocks, allocate funding for critical community violence intervention programs and prioritize school safety measures. The time is now to be bold on gun safety.”
“Michigan lawmakers have one last opportunity to save lives and strengthen our communities by passing these critical gun safety measures before the session ends,” said Sean Holihan, State Legislative Director for GIFFORDS. “From banning ghost guns to funding life-saving community intervention programs, these bills represent meaningful action against the epidemic of gun violence. Families across Michigan deserve bold leadership and common-sense solutions that put their safety first. The time to act is now.”
“Michigan lawmakers have the chance to take life-saving action to address the gun violence epidemic and bring us one step closer to freeing an entire generation from the constant fear of being shot. This slate of gun violence prevention bills will go a long way in protecting Michigan communities by banning bump stocks, which turn firearms into functional machine guns, and regulating ghost guns, unregulated and untraceable firearms that have been used to fuel gun violence in communities all over the country and Michigan. But time is running out. Michigan House democrats only have two days left in the lame duck session to exercise the power of the majority and pass these life-saving laws. The time to act is now.” – Kris Brown, Brady president
“Our leaders must meet this latest tragedy with powerful action,” said Ryan Bates, Executive Director of End Gun Violence Michigan, “When we stand up and work together, we know we can beat the gun industry and save lives. Now is the time for our legislators to finish the job and pass these last few bills into law.”
In Michigan, over 1,400 people are killed by firearms every year–with the majority of those deaths being firearm suicides. More about gun violence in Michigan is available here.
After electing a gun-sense trifecta in 2022, legislators in Michigan took action to enact a comprehensive gun safety package that included multiple foundational gun safety policies, including an extreme risk law, secure storage requirements, a comprehensive background check system, and a bipartisan law to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. Just last month, Michigan lawmakers took action to address the growing threat of armed intimidation at the voting booth, passing a bill prohibiting the possession of firearms near polling locations and other electoral facilities.