Less than a year before a gunman attacked Michigan State University’s campus on Monday, killing three students and injuring five, Republican legislators in the state rejected an opportunity to change gun regulations.
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Michigan Democrats attempted to advance bills requiring secure storage of firearms and expanding background checks for gun buyers. Six months earlier, a shooting at Oxford high school near Detroit had also reinvigorated Democratic efforts to change Michigan gun laws. But the gun bills were blocked by Republicans, who controlled both chambers of the state legislature.
After years of thwarted efforts, Michigan Democrats may finally be able to act. In November, the party gained majorities in both chambers of the Michigan legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years, giving them a chance to reconsider the gun proposals that languished under Republican control.
It remains unclear whether the bills previously considered by the legislature might have prevented the mass shooting at Michigan State. Authorities identified the shooter as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, but they declined to offer details on the weapon used in the attack or a potential motive.
For many Michiganders, the shooting stirred up painful memories. Just 15 months earlier, a teenager used a handgun purchased by his father to fatally shoot four students at Oxford high school, outside of Detroit. Local media reports indicate that some survivors of the Oxford shooting, as well as one survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, were on Michigan State’s campus Monday.
“We have children in Michigan who are living through their second school shooting in under a year and a half,” Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, said on Tuesday. “If this is not a wake-up call to do something, I don’t know what is.”
But Michigan Democrats have faced fierce opposition in their efforts to change state gun laws. Republicans consistently blocked bills aimed at expanding background checks and banning the large-capacity magazines frequently used in mass shootings. Even relatively modest proposals, such as mandating safe storage of firearms or enacting a “red flag law” to allow courts to seize guns from those deemed to be dangerous, failed in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Court records show that, in 2019, McRae faced a felony charge for carrying a concealed weapon and a misdemeanor charge for possessing a loaded firearm in or upon a vehicle. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to probation. The incident raised questions about whether McRae should have been denied access to a firearm prior to the Monday shooting.
“We cannot keep living like this,” Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship, or local stores. As parents, we tell our kids it’s going to be OK. But the truth is words are not good enough. We must act and we will.”
Whitmer has already indicated that addressing gun violence would be a top priority for her administration, and the Michigan State shooting appears to have added a sense of urgency to Democrats’ efforts. As they mourned the young lives lost on Monday, Democratic legislators pledged that they would move quickly to pass new gun regulations.
“Even the basics will make a difference – we need universal background checks, safe storage laws and red flag laws,” Democratic state senator Darrin Camilleri said. “Of course we need more, but let’s start with this … Tomorrow, we go back to the Capitol and get to work to create change.”
In a statement offering condolences to the Michigan State community, Joe Biden also reiterated his call to enact a nationwide ban on assault weapons and require background checks for all gun sales. Last year, Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers and provided funding for mental health and violence intervention programs, but he said more must be done to address gun safety. Underscoring the scope of the issue, Biden noted that the Michigan tragedy came one day before the country marked five years since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, when 17 people were killed.
“Too many American communities have been devastated by gun violence,” Biden said. “Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.”
Despite the urgent demands for action, Democrats still face significant challenges in changing gun laws. At the federal level, Republicans now control the House of Representatives, making it easier for them to block gun safety bills. In Michigan, Democrats hold narrow majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, so party leaders will have little wiggle room as they attempt to enact new gun regulations.
But gun safety advocates remain undaunted, promising that they will keep working until lawmakers act.
“No one should have to fear for their life while walking on campus. No one should have to text their loved ones goodbye,” said Annie Heitmeier, a third year student at Michigan State and a volunteer with the gun safety group Students Demand Action.
“We won’t stand for any more inaction from our legislators because no one should ever experience the terror and fear that we lived through last night.”