Michigan senators call for federal gun safety bills after MSU shooting

Michigan Democratic Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow on Thursday called for expanding federal gun safety legislation in the wake of the mass shooting at Michigan State University.

A man opened fire on the MSU campus on Feb. 13, killing three students and injuring five others. It came nearly fifteen months after an Oxford High School student brought a gun to his school and murdered four of his classmates and injured seven other people.

The shootings have prompted widespread discussion among Michigan policymakers about what's necessary to improve school safety.

In a speech on the Senate floor Thursday, Stabenow called upon Congress to pass a military assault weapons ban bill she has co-sponsored, and Peters demanded the passage of a bill to require background checks for all gun sales in the U.S., which he helped introduce.

Stabenow, a long-time advocate for mental health support programs, touted legislation passed last year to expand community behavioral health clinics.

"But better mental health isn't enough," the Lansing Democrat said. "We also need to make it harder for people who harm others to get their hands on guns."

In a separate speech, Peters called for the passage of a federal red-flag law — policies that allow law enforcement agencies to petition a court to temporarily take away weapons from individuals deemed a threat to themselves and others — and said it's possible to do so while respecting the rights of "law-abiding, responsible gun owners."

Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, spoke about each of the three students killed at MSU and said, "we can honor these young adults by making change or we can play politics and let this cycle continue."

Both Peters and Stabenow attended Michigan State for a portion of their education, Peters for graduate school and Stabenow for both undergraduate and graduate school.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and fellow Democrats who have narrow control of the Legislature have vowed to take action in response to the shootings. A bill package is advancing through the Legislature that would require background checks for all firearms sold in Michigan, require guns be stored with trigger locks or in gun safes, and establish a red-flag law.

Two former Republican members of Congress, Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Dave Trott of Birmingham, have thrown their support behind the legislation and urged state Republicans to do the same.

Some law enforcement officials have said the legislation would create challenges for people who already own long guns for hunting that have not yet been subject to background checks, and guns rights advocates have opposed the legislation.

John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, spoke against the bills in Lansing Thursday, saying they could lead to more deaths not fewer.

"People use guns defensively to stop violent crimes about five times more frequently each year than they're used to commit crime," Lott said.