LANSING, Mich. — The Democratic-led Legislature launched hearings Wednesday on a series of firearms regulations introduced in the wake of the Feb. 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University.
The roughly two-hour, packed hearing in front of the Michigan House Judiciary Committee featured testimony from those in support of the regulations and is expected to continue next week. A Senate committee is expected to take testimony on similar bills Thursday.
The House legislation introduced days after three MSU students were gunned down on campus and five others were wounded would implement a so-called red flag or extreme risk protection law, require background checks for all firearm purchases and mandate the safe storage of firearms.
MSU student Carl Austin Miller Grondin told lawmakers students were tired of being treated as statistics because of what he argued was a preventable shooting.
"I’m so sorry for what we’ve gone through and that our pain seems like a spectacle for the rest of the nation," Grondin said. "And we have to go through this under a microscope."
Former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, voiced support for the bills in testimony Wednesday, noting constituents were watching and would note if the state failed to take action before another mass shooting.
"If not now, when, after Michigan State?" Upton testified via Zoom. "If not you, who is going to do it? How many more do we have to endure in order to make our state secure?"
State Rep. Kelly Breen, the Novi Democrat who leads the House Judiciary Committee, assured attendees Wednesday that the Legislature would take action.
"There are reasonable steps we can take — changes with broad popular support — to keep guns out of the wrong hands," Breen said. "That’s what we’re talking about today.”
The red flag law would allow family members, law enforcement and mental health professionals to ask a judge to take away someone's guns temporarily if they could prove the individual posed a risk to himself or others.
The criminal background check legislation would expand an existing requirement for handgun and long gun purchases from federally-licensed dealers to all firearms purchased from unlicensed sellers or in private sales. The bill would close a loophole left between Michigan's requirement for checks for handgun purchases and the federal law's lack of a mandate for background checks in private sales at gun shows or between individuals.
The safe storage law requires individuals who leave a firearm unattended where it may be accessible by a minor to store the firearm in a locked container or keep the firearm unloaded and locked it with a trigger-locking device. Under the legislation, failure to do so would be punishable by a misdemeanor.
Lansing police have said suspected MSU gunman Anthony McRae lawfully purchased two 9mm handguns that were found on him after he committed suicide following the campus shooting rampage.
Medical professionals weigh in
Several medical and public health professionals testified in support of the bills during Wednesday's hearing, labeling gun violence in Michigan and the nation as a public health crisis that called for change.
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan's chief medical executive, argued that data shows increases in firearm deaths in Michigan and that the lead cause of death among children and adolescents is firearm deaths.
"All of this evidence leads me to believe we need to have a public health approach to gun violence," and multimodal solutions, including legislation, is needed to address the issue, Bagdasarian said.
April Zeoli, a firearm injury prevention researcher at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health, told lawmakers that red flag laws, also referred to as extreme risk protection orders, were successful in preventing several types of gun violence, especially firearm suicides.
"If these laws are enacted, we can evaluate them in real-time with rigorous science to determine whether and how these laws can be adjusted to fit the needs of Michigan communities," Zeoli said.
Cynthia Ewell Foster, a professor in UM's Department of Psychiatry who focuses on suicide prevention, said the fatality rate for people who use a gun in a suicide is much higher than the fatality rate for suicide attempts by other means. Advocating for the safe storage laws, she added that many children attempting a firearm suicide often find access to a family member's gun.
"We’re losing too many kids in this country on their very first suicide attempt," because of their access to firearms, Foster said.
Dr. Brian Stork, a Michigan State Medical Society board member, voiced strong support for the measures being considered, noting medical professionals often have an up-close understanding of the lasting effects of gun violence.
"It's unacceptable and something needs to be done," Stork said.
State leaders promise change
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, and House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, said Wednesday they are committed to passing legislation that curbs gun violence.
Their vows came during a press conference with representatives from the groups Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety ahead of Wednesday's House committee hearing.
Tate said he couldn’t imagine being a parent who loses a child to gun violence.
“We no longer want to be in a position where we speak to parents that have lost children and they ask us the question, ‘What have you done to help us?'” Tate said. “No parent wants to have that conversation with their legislator.”
During the same event, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II said reducing gun violence is a “priority” of Michigan’s Democratic leaders.
“We have a collective responsibility,” Gilchrist said. “This is a debt that we owe right now, and we can repay right now, not in the sense of being able to bring back those that we have lost, but by paying forward with the lives we will save."
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