LANSING, Mich., March 30, 2023 – In response to the horrific mass shootings at Michigan State University, the Covenant School in Tennessee, and throughout the U.S., state Reps. Felicia Brabec (D-Pittsfield) and Christine Morse (D-Texas Township) are making known their support for immediate action on extreme risk protection order (ERPO) legislation.
“Gun violence is a major threat to public health, and we need to use every tool in our toolbox to protect our students and communities,” said Brabec, chair of the Michigan Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus. “Extreme risk protection orders would have saved lives in Tennessee. When family members or friends show troubling signs that they pose a threat to themselves or others, we need to empower loved ones to intervene to stop these kinds of preventable tragedies before they happen.”
In March, Giffords and Impact Research released statewide polling that showed 77% of Michiganders support instituting ERPOs that allow law enforcement to temporarily take guns away from a person who poses an immediate risk to themselves or others.
“Again, there has been yet another mass shooting in our country resulting in the death of school-age children,” said Morse, vice chair of the Michigan Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus. “No one wants a single additional reminder — like what happened yesterday in Nashville — telling us as a society to act now to address the gun violence epidemic. Those horrific reminders are actual lives lost. My colleagues and I are committed to taking immediate action to pass legislation to secure extreme risk protection orders — these kinds of laws could have helped prevent what happened yesterday in Tennessee.”
House Bills 4145–48 would allow courts to issue ERPOs for individuals deemed at risk of hurting themselves or others after the judge considers testimony, documents and other evidence in support of the request. Once an order is issued, law enforcement could then take temporary possession of the individual’s firearms and temporarily prohibit them from purchasing new firearms while the order remains in effect.