(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/19/2024) Sen. Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) approached Republicans' desk with photos of Alexandria Verner, a Michigan State University (MSU) shooting victim, as legislation dealing with firearm storage notices passed by a party-line.  

Verner was one of the three students killed in February 2023 on MSU's campus by a reported 43-year-old gunman. According to the Michigan State Police (MSP), the gunman had handwritten notes hinting that a Meijer warehouse in Delta Township and a church could have been possible future targets.  

Verner's parents, Ted and Nancy Verner, have pushed for HB 5450 and HB 5451 while healing from their daughter's death. Speaking as a Clawson Public Schools board member, Ted described the proposals as "very simple" and "no-brain common sense." 

The bills require all Michigan schools to send home with all students a state-crafted message on proper storage of firearms and the new law that requires parents to keep their guns out of reach of kids. 

In Michigan, a firearm owner can face a 93-day, $500 misdemeanor if a minor obtains a non-stored gun, carrying it in a public place or showing it off threateningly or recklessly in front of someone else. If the minor discharges the gun, inflicting death on themselves or another person, the owner could face a 15-year, $10,000 felony. 

"This bill isn't about student safety. It is about stigmatizing firearms to the public," said Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) on the legislation. "If this was truly about student safety, the notice would include other things like human trafficking, which is a huge problem here in the state of Michigan."  

Runestad also noted drug and alcohol abuse, and asked why the bills were making firearms seem more dangerous than fentanyl.  

He pointed to Michigan's school safety hotline, OK2SAY. In the fall, it was supported to accept tips on "improperly stored" guns.  

"It can also be used as a propaganda item to intimidate students and law-abiding gun owners who have school-aged children," Runestad said. "The result of this bill will be more stress on students and law enforcement officers who have to monitor the tip-line, investigate claims of unsafe storage, which leads to issues regarding the search of private property, and constitutionality of that search if no crime has been committed."  

As Republicans spoke, Polehanki stood up with the photos of Verner.  

Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said months ago, a Clawson teacher in her district pulled together a town hall. The educator had seen several individuals she's taught die, including Verner, a student who committed suicide, and another who died in a domestic violence case. 

McMorrow said one of the questions during the town hall was "what is the appropriate way to ask, do you have guns in the home and are they safely secure?"  

"I think a lot of people do not realize that this is law in the state of Michigan right now," McMorrow said. "It is gobsmacking to me that we look at headlines, another one just recently of a 4-year-old boy in Detroit, who got (hold) of an unsecured firearm at home, and fired."  

Making a case about school transparency, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) offered a failed amendment requiring that schools also send home, electronically or by mail, their school's academic assessment performance data.  

He argued that Democrats are continuing to "sweep school accountability under the rug," from repealing last year the A-F grading system for school permanence and the third grade-retention provision in Michigan's "Read by Grade Three" standards.  

As for Polehanki, she said she carried Verner's photos because her parents "tearfully begged" for bipartisanship.