Whitmer signs stricter background check, safe storage bills

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Anyone who wants to buy a gun in Michigan will have to undergo a background check, and gun owners will be required to safely store all firearms and ammunition when around minors under new laws signed Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The signing took place on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, where a gunman killed three students and injured five others two months ago. Flanked by students and gun safety advocates, Whitmer, a graduate of MSU, told the more than 100 people in attendance to “buckle up, we’re going to continue this work.”

“Gun violence is a scourge that is unique to this country,” Whitmer said. “We don’t have to live like this and today, we are showing we are not going to anymore.”

The legislation is part of a sweeping 11-bill gun safety package that was introduced in the weeks following the MSU shooting but was predominately drafted after the 2021 Oxford High School shooting in which four students were killed. The bills saw little movement at the time with Republicans in control of the Legislature.

The Michigan House is expected to vote Thursday on proposed red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders, that are intended to temporarily remove guns from people with potentially violent behavior to stop them from hurting themselves or others. The Senate passed the measures in March. Whitmer said she would sign the package if and when it gets to her desk.

Under the legislation signed Thursday, criminal background checks will be required for anyone buying a rifle or shotgun, which had previously only been required for purchases of pistols. The safe storage bills will require gun owners to keep unloaded firearms in a locked storage box or container when it is “reasonably known that a minor is or is likely to be present on the premises.” The laws will go into effect next year.

Safe storage requirements have been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the acts of Ethan, who has pleaded guilty to terrorism and first-degree murder charges.

Supporters have also said the safe storage requirements will protect teenagers from using firearms in suicide attempts.

Calling gun violence a “uniquely American problem,” Whitmer drew attention to mass shootings across the country during her remarks Thursday, specifically referencing recent Louisville.

Numerous state legislatures across the country are debating ways to address gun violence. A shooting in downtown Louisville this week was the 15th mass killing of the year in the U.S. in which four or more people were killed other than the perpetrator. That is the most during the first 100 days of a calendar year since 2009.

The U.S. is sharply divided over what steps, if any, to take in the face of violence that involves firearms. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an expected Republican presidential candidate who visited Michigan last week, signed a bill this month that allows people in his state to carry concealed firearms without a permit, and without training or a background check. It takes effect July 1.