Democrats Pass Gun Violence Prevention Bills

Gun violence prevention bills have finally been passed by the Michigan legislature, thanks to the recently elected Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate.

These bills establish expanded background checks for all gun purchases, mandate safe storage of firearms in households with minor children, and create Red Flag laws to allow judges to block access to firearms for individuals who are found to be an immediate danger to themselves or others.

These laws will save lives and reduce injuries in our state. They are an important advance in the effort to combat the epidemic of gun violence in our nation.

Michigan’s Democratic state senators and representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of passing these bills. Republican state legislators voted overwhelmingly against them.

Many of the Republicans who voted against the gun violence prevention bills claimed that “the problem isn’t guns, it’s mental illness, and the solution is to increase mental health services”. As a provider of mental health services, I am very much in favor of increasing access to diagnosis and treatment of all forms of mental illness. I hope that happens. But mental illness is not the reason that our country has so much more gun violence than any other developed nation. We don’t have more mental illness than these other nations. What we have is much weaker laws to prevent gun purchases by individuals who are most likely to do harm to themselves or others and much weaker laws to prevent children from gaining access to a loaded gun.

Michigan’s Democratic legislators have taken important steps to reduce gun violence in our state. Governor Whitmer has been a strong advocate for these efforts and has signed all of the bills that have been passed.

At the national level, Democratic senators and representatives are also attempting to pass gun violence prevention bills. Republican senators and representatives are blocking passage of these bills. Please contact Congressmen Walberg and Huizenga and Senators Peters and Stabenow and express strong support for pro-life gun violence prevention laws.

Dr. Larry Feldman

Lakeside