LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Four new gun reform laws will take effect starting Tuesday, Feb. 13. The legislation was introduced last year following the shooting on Michigan State University’s campus and will take effect on the first anniversary.
The law introduces more safe storage requirements, extreme risk protection orders, and mandatory universal background checks.
Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel said the laws are effective and impactful pieces of legislation that add common sense measures to Michigan law, that already exist, and have held up, in other states.
“For so many years, those of us in law enforcement and the public at large, we would watch these incidences of gun violence, some 1,200 deaths every year in the state of Michigan,” Nessel said. “We’re taking the best policies, and the best practices, and the best procedures that are already utilized in states across the country, red and blue alike, that are working and now transferring them here, and putting them into effect in our state.”
Nessel said that while touring the U.P. last summer, she was able to talk about the legislation with members of law enforcement who were in favor of the extra protections it creates.
Three of the four firearm safety laws taking effect were introduced last year on Feb 16th in the Michigan Senate, just days after three students (Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser, and Alex Verner) were killed during a shooting on MSU’s campus.
The fourth law was introduced last fall and will suspend someone’s ability to obtain or own a firearm for eight years following a conviction related to domestic violence.
“These are law enforcement officials that just want to be able to best protect their communities but didn’t have the tools to do so before, but they will now,” Nessel explained. “We want to prevent suicides if we can. We want to prevent homicides. We want to prevent accidental shootings involving children. We all want the same things, this is just a way to get there.”
As the laws take effect, the Attorney General said she expects to see a significant decrease in firearm-related injuries and deaths, a change seen in other states that have enacted the same legislation. Nessel said these laws are showing those impacted by gun violence that the state can do more than just send thoughts and prayers in the wake of tragic events.
It’s saying we’re going to do more than just offer thoughts and prayers every time we see some sort of an incident. And once we educate people as to what their rights and responsibilities are, and we have enforcement of these measures, I know that we’re going to see a significant reduction in the number of gun-related injuries and deaths.
Michigan’s Attorney General, Dana Nessel
