(Source: MIRS.news, Published 02/14/2023) Following Monday's shootings at Michigan State University, Senate Majority Leader Winnie BrinkS (D-Grand Rapids) says legislators can mourn with the community, but those actions become "pretty empty" if preventive measures aren't taken for the future.
"We can do two things at once. We can support the community. We can mourn with the community. We can help people process … but if we don't take action to prevent this in the future, those actions are pretty empty," Brinks said. "It is incumbent upon us to embrace our role in the immediate to support the community, but also to take action on real common sense gun violence."
She has willing partners in House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Tate said Tuesday he has "no understanding left" for those in a position to effect change who are unwilling to act" when it comes to gun violence response.
Tate said his family members have been victims of gun violence and that violence has reverberated "for a lifetime." Still, he said he's "angry" that the safety and security of Michigan State has been "shattered by the uniquely American scourge of gun violence."
"We have a choice. We can continue to debate the reasons for gun violence in America, or we can act," Tate said. "We cannot continue to do the same thing over and over again and hope for a different outcome."
Gun violence is a uniquely American problem and Americans should not "accept living like this," Whitmer said in response to last night's shooting at Michigan State University.
The Governor said we all "must work together to end gun violence that claims the lives of too many of our fellow Americans and upends the lives of countless others every day.
Brinks and Sen. Rosemary Bayer (D-Keego Harbor), chair of the Legislative Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, spoke to members of the media today.
Their virtual discussion zoomed in on firearm safety legislation Democrats have introduced in previous terms. However, no Democratic-sponsored bills under the "weapons" category have been officially introduced since Democrats took control of the Legislature.
But Bayer said everything her caucus is working on has been vetted and proven to have reduced gun violence in the circumstances the various proposals are addressed for.
Last June, Democrats introduced "Safe Storage" legislation, making failure to lock away firearms – specifically if the negligence results in injury or death – punishable by up to a five-year, $5,000 felony. The same package would make firearm locks and safes exempt from sales tax.
In February 2019, Democrats introduced a “Extreme Risk Protection Order,” permitting judges to confiscate an individual's firearms and to temporarily ban them from making gun purchases if a loved one or a law enforcement member makes a case that the person could be a serious danger to themselves or others.
According to a Public Policy Polling poll, commissioned by Progress Michigan universal, 59% of 611 respondents strongly backed holding gun owners responsible if a lack of safe storage results in a child accessing a firearm, as well as someone else who shouldn't have access to guns.
The Public Policy Polling responses, which were collected from Jan. 30-31 of this year, also found 55% of respondents strongly supported enacting "extreme risk protection to allow family members and law enforcement to petition the courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose a serious risk to themselves or others."
Moreover, 63% of survey participants said they strongly supported "enacting universal background checks for firearm sales." Universal background checks is an item Whitmer called for during her State of the State address.
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, long gun transfers by private sellers – not including federally licensed firearms dealers – are not subjected to background checks in Michigan.
"I want to stress that we don't have additional details or all of the details about what happened last night, but we know that gun violence incidents like the one we saw are not unique, and there are many other iterations of gun violence that impact our communities," Brinks said.
Brinks said whether it's mass shootings, homicides or suicides, "we know there is not one bill or one policy that can make all of that go away overnight, but we do know that there is a culture of violence that we can make a direct impact on."
The Senate majority leader summarized how the aforementioned safe storage legislation, reform for universal background checks and efforts surrounding extreme risk protection orders "are some of the basics" residents can expect to see legislators kick off with.
Lynna Kaucheck of the Campaign for a Safer Michigan through Progress Michigan told MIRS the listed proposals are in the drafting process to become bills, with her organization now reviewing and providing feedback on the earliest language.
"One of the things that we realize is we've got one shot at doing this, right? The Legislature is likely going to move on these things, but they need to be done right," Kaucheck told MIRS. "We want to look at them through an equity lens and make sure they're written so that they don't disproportionately impact low income communities or communities of color."
Kaucheck said that when things were introduced in the 2021-22 term, "it was reactionary." The bills, as introduced by then-minority seated lawmakers in the last four years, likely could have used some improvements.
For example, the item the Campaign for a Safer Michigan had the most feedback on involved the extreme risk protection order legislation. Kaucheck said her organization wanted the courts to be provided with a list of suggested risk factors to consider when deciding if an extreme risk protection order is necessary.
"It was a non-exhaustive list, but this is a really important way to prevent mental health stigma (so) that judges aren't making sweeping decisions based on mental health diagnoses," she said. "One of the other things that we changed, and I believe it has been changed, (is that) in the previous iteration of the bill (the) standard for proof was reasonable cause, which is really low…and so we were advocating for that to be changed to preponderance of evidence."
Ultimately, Kaucheck said although the policies should be passed, Michigan officials need to be honest and take a deep dive at the systemic things that create the climate for violence in the first place.
