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Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer endorsed several new pieces of legislation last week that are meant to impose new gun control requirements on residents of the state.
The bills signed by Whitmer were characterized in a release from her office as both “bipartisan” and “commonsense.” The official added that the bills “build on my administration’s commitment to protecting Michiganders and their families” and claimed they will make “a real difference.”
One set of proposals will require information developed by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services about the “safe storage of firearms” to be sent home with government school students for their parents. Others will require that the Michigan State Police proactively “destroy all firearms turned over to it that were purchased under a gun buyback program.”
Colonel James Grady, the director of the Michigan State Police, endorsed the legislation and commented that the new requirement “ensures when we destroy a firearm, our current practice of destroying all parts of the firearm will remain the standard now and for the future.”
Another set of bills expanded “the definition of a hate crime” and amended sentencing guidelines for such hate crimes. Additional legislation signed by Whitmer created a “School Safety and Mental Health Commission” within the Michigan Department of State Police, an entity which will center on “improving mental health outcomes for school-aged children.”
Various gun control entities commended Whitmer for signing the legislation. John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said that Whitmer is a “proven gun sense champion who understands that common-sense laws like the ones she just signed will make Michigan safer.”
Angela Ferrell-Zabala, the executive director of Moms Demand Action, similarly remarked that the “gun sense trifecta” in the Michigan state government has helped them work “hand in hand with our movement to pass lifesaving gun safety laws up until the last possible moment.”
Everytown for Gun Safety said earlier this month that Michigan ranks twentieth in the nation for strength of their gun control laws, marking an increase of four positions from the previous year.
