LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed gun violence prevention bills into law Thursday at Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium, two months after the deadly shooting at MSU. With the stroke of the governor’s pen, universal background checks for all guns and safe storage are now law in Michigan.
Advocates are calling it a major step forward for gun reform in Michigan.
The governor was joined by lawmakers, law enforcement officials and survivors of gun violence, as well as members of the grassroots movement Moms Demand Action.
One of the bills Gov. Whitmer signed requires universal background checks. Under the legislation, a person will not be able to buy a firearm without a license, which expands current law to include all guns.
Plus, safe storage laws, which state a person must keep an unloaded firearm in a locked storage box or container.
There are consequences for those found guilty of violating the laws including fines and, in the case of the safe storage law, jail time.
These bills were pushed through by the Democratic majority and passed mostly along party lines with some Republican support.
"We don't have to live like this, and today, we are showing we're not going to anymore," Whitmer said.
Lawmakers are expected to take on more gun safety bills later this month. That includes controversial red flag legislation that would allow firearms to be temporarily taken from someone believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
Those bills made it out of a house judiciary committee Wednesday.
The bills pertaining to red flag laws continue to face more of a fight from the opposition. That legislation will likely come to the house floor for a vote sometime this month.
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