Michigan lawmakers want to curb gun violence. What gun safety researchers suggest

For the Michigan lawmakers leading the charge to pass gun safety legislation, curbing gun violence is personal. 

State Sen. Rosemary Bayer, D-Keego Harbor, who heads the Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, lost her childhood neighbor and her cousin to suicide. "Both of them died by firearm," she said. Bayer also served as the state senator for Oxford during the 2021 shooting rampage that left four dead and seven injured, including a teacher. 

State Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, helps lead the caucus with Bayer, and her family has also been touched by gun violence. Carter's nephew died on the way to a store in Grand Rapids when she said he found himself in the way of some bullets. 

Michigan has some of the least restrictive gun policies in the U.S., according to the Gun Policy in America initiative at the RAND Corporation, a public policy research organization. That could change soon as lawmakers look to keep guns out of the hands of those who present a danger to themselves or others and children, who recently saw guns surpass auto accidents as the leading cause of death in the U.S.

Democratic lawmakers' previous efforts to pass gun safety measures stalled under GOP control in Lansing. Now they have an opening with Democratic majorities in both chambers of the Legislature to pass a trio of proposals backed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: universal background checks, red flag laws and safe storage requirements. But those shepherding the measures in Lansing should also eye other policies to curb violence, gun safety researchers say.

A spokesperson for Whitmer declined to say whether the governor supports additional proposals while state lawmakers haven't ruled them out.

"I think we're going to see more things," said Bayer. But she said lawmakers should move deliberately to address gun safety. "I really, truly don't want to get to where it looks like we're out of control and just going to lock down everything and then get a big pushback, right? We're trying to be sensible, listen to the people and go at a pace that everybody can accept."

Lawmakers cite public support for the proposals they plan to introduce first. Gun safety experts, meanwhile, point to research that shows putting other policies on the table in Lansing could reduce gun violence.

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Repealing Michigan's 'stand your ground' law

Like most states, Michigan has a stand your ground law that allows the use of deadly force any place someone has the legal right to be without a "duty to retreat" so long as the person using deadly force is not committing a crime at the time and "honestly and reasonably" believes using force is necessary to prevent imminent death, bodily harm or sexual assault. 

Stand your ground laws are associated with increases in firearm homicides, according to a review of the research on the policy carried out by the RAND Corporation's Gun Policy in America initiative. 

"It may or may not be the case that repealing 'stand your ground' laws have the converse or reverse effect," said Rosanna Smart, the lead author of the RAND report. "But it certainly seems like the passage of these laws is not improving public safety."

No state has repealed its "stand your ground" law, she said. Democratic state lawmakers last tried to repeal Michigan's law over a decade ago, and Carter said revisiting the law is on her radar. 

Establishing a waiting period

Michigan has no law establishing a waiting period before obtaining a firearm. In 2021, Democratic lawmakers in the state House introduced a bill to impose a seven-day waiting period between the date of sale and delivering the firearm purchased to the buyer. 

"This is another one where research is pretty consistent in showing that these laws are associated with reductions in both homicide and suicide," said April Zeoli, director of the policy core for the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan.

The hypothesized reason waiting periods are associated with a reduction in firearm homicides and suicides is that a buffer between purchasing and obtaining a firearm can give those who buy a firearm to harm someone or themselves some time to rethink their plans, Zeoli said.

Suicides account for the majority of gun deaths in Michigan, according to data from 2014-21 from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Provisional data from 2022 shows nearly 57% of gun deaths in Michigan were suicides last year. In 2018, the share was over 61%. 

Requiring a permit for all firearm purchases

Before 2012, Michigan had a firearm purchase licensing law that required those purchasing guns to apply for a license with local law enforcement. In 2012, state lawmakers changed the law so that licenses to purchase were only required for non-federally licensed firearms dealers. Federally licensed dealers run a background check and provide a record of the sale filed with the local police department. 

Cassandra Crifasi, co-director of Johns Hopkins' Center for Gun Violence Solutions, said the center's research has found that requiring those interested in buying a firearm to first obtain a license is associated with lower homicide and suicide rates.

She called Michigan's bifurcated permit to purchase system unusual. "In every other permit to purchase state, if you have to get a permit, then you have to show that every seller, both licensed and private," she said. "We want to make sure that everybody's following the same set of rules regardless of from whom they're buying a gun."

Strengthening the permitting system can help fill holes in records during a background check and delay impulsive firearm purchases by first-time buyers, Crifasi said.

While it's not yet clear what additional proposals lawmakers may pursue, it's an issue that has garnered lots of interest in Lansing.

During its first meeting for the current legislative term, the caucus focused on firearm safety brought together more than 50 lawmakers, making it the largest caucus in Lansing, Bayer said. 

"I have not seen anything like that," she said.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.