LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan's other Democratic leaders promised supporters of measures aimed at combating gun violence they would take action "in short order" Wednesday during a rally outside the state Capitol.
Thirty days after a gunman killed three students and injured five others on the campus of Michigan State University, Whitmer and former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a survivor of a 2011 mass shooting, bumped fists on stage as Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, vowed to get reforms to the governor's desk.
"My pledge to you is that we are going to get these bills done," Brinks told the crowd.
"Now is the time," Whitmer said during her speech.
Democratic lawmakers have prioritized proposals to require criminal background checks for all gun purchases, to mandate storage standards for firearms in homes where children are present and to permit "extreme risk" protection orders, also known as a red flag law, to allow guns to be taken away from people deemed a risk to themselves and others.
The House has already approved bills to require background checks. The full 11-bill package in the Senate advanced out of committee last week. Votes from the full Senate are possible as soon as Thursday, Brinks said in an interview after Wednesday's rally.
"We'll take them up as soon as they're ready," the majority leader added.
A national group led by Giffords, who's become an outspoken advocate for gun safety policies, organized the gathering at the Capitol. A few hundred people attended with about 30 there to protest the event.
The counter demonstrators shouted out from the crowd as speakers made their remarks on the Capitol steps.
"Our rights cannot be legislated away," one of the counter protesters, John Parkinson of Macomb Township, said. "We have to draw the line somewhere. If they take away the Second (Amendment), they will take away the rest."
State Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia, stood with Parkinson and the other demonstrators before the event. She said the Second Amendment was "non-negotiable."
"I will never waver," she said.
But speakers and supporters at the rally Wednesday said the counter protesters misunderstood the bills at hand. People have a right to be safe, said Jeff Kessler, who traveled from Traverse City.
"We've let our kids down," Kessler said. "I think we've let that generation down."
In less than 16 months, Michigan has suffered two mass shootings that gained national attention and calls for reform. In November 2021, a gunman killed four students at Oxford High School. Then came the Michigan State University shooting on Feb. 13.
Madeline Johnson told the crowd she lost her best friend, Madisyn Baldwin, in the violence at Oxford. None of the bills in the Legislature infringe on people's Second Amendment rights, Johnson said.
"I was a child when I ran from bullets," Johnson said, addressing the state's elected leaders. "I was a child when I attended my best friend's funeral. My childhood was ripped away from me.
"And I am tired of begging you to care. So today I am not asking you to do your job. I am demanding it."
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, promised to pass "life-saving gun safety policies this year." And Attorney General Dana Nessel suggested the bills would be signed into law in two to four weeks.
"We are going to have it in short order," Nessel said.
Whitmer said the days after the Oxford and Michigan State University shootings were the hardest of her time as governor.
"What can you say to a parent who has lost a child to gun violence? What can you say to young people who are terrorized and terrified just to go to school?" Whitmer asked the crowd. "The good news is we do not have to live like this, and we will not live like this anymore."
Giffords was the final speaker.
She was shot in the head at a constituent event in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 8, 2011. That gunman killed six people and injured 12 others. Giffords said she's been relearning how to walk and how to talk.
"Many, many people have helped me along the way," she said. "I have learned so much. I learned when people care for each other and work together progress is possible."
