It’s been one year since Michigan lawmakers enacted stricter gun laws, including safe storage and red flag laws.
In February 2024, Michigan enacted gun laws that included an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law.
The ERPO law allows the courts to temporarily prevent people deemed a risk to themselves or others from having or buying firearms.
According to a new state report, nearly three out of four red flag law requests have been granted.
Specifically, 287 of the 391 requests to seize weapons under the ERPO Act were granted by a judge. Firearm safe storage laws were also enacted.
The safe storage laws require gun owners to store firearms unloaded and locked if it is reasonably known that a minor is or is likely to be present on the premises.
The day after the law took effect, a Flint father allegedly left his gun unsecured, and his two-year-old daughter got hold of it and shot herself.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton was assigned the case and was the first to charge someone under the new law.
Since then, he’s charged two others under the safe storage law.
“This law has helped us a great deal because it’s clear cut what’s required of parents when they have minor children in the home,” Leyton said. “We don’t have to go to court and prove negligence; we can prove just the elements of this crime, and it makes it a lot easier, we believe, for a judge and jury to understand the facts.”
The safe storage laws included a renewed effort to make firearm safety devices, such as gun locks, reasonably priced and available to all gun owners.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 56,800 free gun locks have been distributed since the new laws took effect last year.
Cease Fire Detroit, a community-based violence prevention program affiliated with the Detroit Health Department, has helped distribute free gun locks throughout the city.
“Just the simplicity of adding a gun lock can keep a child alive,” Cease Fire Detroit Manager Daryl Harris said. “It means so much.”
Harris said their group distributed hundreds of free gun locks last year, and the effort continues.
“Just about three weeks ago we got 1,500 more gun locks that we are super excited about giving out as well,” Harris said.
