LANSING, Mich. – Tuesday (April 12) in Lansing, advocates came together to demand action on a string of gun safety fills looking to keep firearms out of children’s hands.
June 2021, Senate bills 550, 553 and House bills 5066 and 5069 were introduced. The bills would require gun owners to store their firearms disabled and in locked containers.
Democrat, Senator Rosemary Bayer is the lead sponsor. Bayer said there hadn’t been a hearing since the bills were introduced.
“Research shows storing firearms securely is a very simple and very effective way to prevent unauthorized access, including by children,” said Bayer. “As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to protect our communities and honor the children we senselessly lost in November and that we continue to lose.”
Jennifer Prather is a Moms Demand Action volunteer, and her son is a freshman at Oxford High School.
Prather can’t help but think about the difference those bills would have made if implemented months ago.
“We know the shooter at my son’s school got the weapon that he used to kill four students from his home, and that should have never happened,” said Prather.
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” said the founder of Moms Demand Action, Shannon Watts. “We need policies and changes that will actually keep families safe. When kids get their hands on guns and intentionally or unintentionally shoot themselves or others, these are preventable tragedies, not accidents.”
