By Clara Lincolnhol
Gongwer News Service
A group of gun violence prevention advocates composed of Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, gun violence survivors and elected officials called for lawmakers to strengthen gun dealing oversight and stop illegal gun trafficking during a rally on the Capitol’s steps Tuesday.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the advocates and called gun violence a “uniquely American problem.”
Whitmer said Michigan has taken steps in the right direction to reduce gun violence like Operation Safe Neighborhood, where over 950 guns were taken off the street and establishing the first ever gun violence prevention task force.
“We’ve gotten common sense gun violence prevention legislation done thanks to all of you,” she said. “Universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, safe storage requirements, stronger penalties for domestic abusers.”
Michigan has made historic investments in school safety, first responders and community violence intervention programs. There is still more work to be done, Whitmer said.
“I’m humbled to be in a position to have signed the bill, but I’m also absolutely knowledgeable of the fact that it would not have happened without all of you and the hundreds of thousands of people across our state who demanded action that you organized and pushed for,” she said.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said Senate Democrats passed multiple bills last year that would increase gun safety like banning bump stocks and serializing ghost guns, which Brinks referred to as “our nation’s fastest growing safety problem.”
“But despite clear evidence that these policies help save lives, these bills have sat untouched in the Republican House for nearly a year,” Brinks said. “So today, I implore House leadership to finally do something in the fight against gun violence. Inaction is not an agenda they should be proud of.”
Brinks said the Senate also introduced more gun safety legislation last month that would strengthen safety requirements for firearm dealers like requiring employee background checks and prompting reporting of lost or stolen guns.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, said gun violence is not inevitable and is the result of delays, excuses and a failure to act. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America.
“Meanwhile, families are paying the price,” he said. “My family paid that price, it was a shooting at my family’s former place of worship that shattered my sense of safety and called me to public service.”
Puri said Michigan needs to elect candidates who favor gun reform to create a “gun sense majority.”
“The other side cannot claim to care about families while repealing laws meant to keep them alive,” Puri said. “They’re not listening to people, they’re listening to gun lobbyists.”
Mia Reid, an advocate and survivor of gun violence called for more work to be done. Reid lost her son, Charles Woodrow Reid to gun violence in 2011. She said for many, people see the news of a shooting and feel bad but then “go back to business as usual.”
“As a gun-violence survivor whose first born and only son’s life was murdered due to gun violence, it is not ‘business as usual,’” she said. “We are suffering a devastating hurt.”
She said more work needs to be done, and Moms Demand Action will continue to fight for gun reform and will show up at the Capital to do so.
Gongwer News Service
A group of gun violence prevention advocates composed of Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, gun violence survivors and elected officials called for lawmakers to strengthen gun dealing oversight and stop illegal gun trafficking during a rally on the Capitol’s steps Tuesday.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined the advocates and called gun violence a “uniquely American problem.”
Whitmer said Michigan has taken steps in the right direction to reduce gun violence like Operation Safe Neighborhood, where over 950 guns were taken off the street and establishing the first ever gun violence prevention task force.
“We’ve gotten common sense gun violence prevention legislation done thanks to all of you,” she said. “Universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, safe storage requirements, stronger penalties for domestic abusers.”
Michigan has made historic investments in school safety, first responders and community violence intervention programs. There is still more work to be done, Whitmer said.
“I’m humbled to be in a position to have signed the bill, but I’m also absolutely knowledgeable of the fact that it would not have happened without all of you and the hundreds of thousands of people across our state who demanded action that you organized and pushed for,” she said.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said Senate Democrats passed multiple bills last year that would increase gun safety like banning bump stocks and serializing ghost guns, which Brinks referred to as “our nation’s fastest growing safety problem.”
“But despite clear evidence that these policies help save lives, these bills have sat untouched in the Republican House for nearly a year,” Brinks said. “So today, I implore House leadership to finally do something in the fight against gun violence. Inaction is not an agenda they should be proud of.”
Brinks said the Senate also introduced more gun safety legislation last month that would strengthen safety requirements for firearm dealers like requiring employee background checks and prompting reporting of lost or stolen guns.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, said gun violence is not inevitable and is the result of delays, excuses and a failure to act. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in America.
“Meanwhile, families are paying the price,” he said. “My family paid that price, it was a shooting at my family’s former place of worship that shattered my sense of safety and called me to public service.”
Puri said Michigan needs to elect candidates who favor gun reform to create a “gun sense majority.”
“The other side cannot claim to care about families while repealing laws meant to keep them alive,” Puri said. “They’re not listening to people, they’re listening to gun lobbyists.”
Mia Reid, an advocate and survivor of gun violence called for more work to be done. Reid lost her son, Charles Woodrow Reid to gun violence in 2011. She said for many, people see the news of a shooting and feel bad but then “go back to business as usual.”
“As a gun-violence survivor whose first born and only son’s life was murdered due to gun violence, it is not ‘business as usual,’” she said. “We are suffering a devastating hurt.”
She said more work needs to be done, and Moms Demand Action will continue to fight for gun reform and will show up at the Capital to do so.
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