Could We Actually "END" Gun Violence in Michigan?

 

I often wonder how far we would have to go to end mass shootings in this country. I've talked about this before, but in the wake of the deadly shooting on Michigan State University's campus - the second high-profile mass shooting in my state to happen in just over a year - I've been thinking about it again. 

Mass shootings are truly something to fear. While they're not necessarily common, they are sporadic, come when you least expect it, and are common enough to imagine your life being ruined or ended by one. The victims are always innocent, undeserving, and unexpectant. Any elected leader is right to try and address this problem. 

When it's your local politicians proposing the gun reform legislation, calling themselves brave, and attracting the ire of pro-gun lobbyists and activists it feels different, more real. With the extra dose of realness comes the stark feeling of helplessness. 

What is a state government, even one with singular party control of every branch, going to do to curb gun violence? It's a very different question from what a state government should do and what would actually work. 

The Michigan Democrats in power are attempting to fast-track* about a dozen gun reform laws to curb the problem. While I certainly wouldn't oppose any of the measures, I think they're woefully inadequate. The MEA has historically done a great job documenting gun control legislation in the state government, here they've outlined the senate package:

• SB 76 Would require license or background check for purchase of firearms.
• SB 77 Updates references to a pistol in the State’s penal code. TIE BAR WITH SB 76.
• SB 78 Updates references in sentencing guidelines.
• SB 79 Provides for penalties for storing or leaving a firearm where it may be accessed by a minor.
• SB 80 Updates sentencing guidelines for weapons.
• SB 81 Would exempt sales tax for firearm safety devices, safes, lockboxes, and trigger locks.
• SB 82 Would exempt use tax for firearm safety devices, safes, lockboxes, and trigger locks.
• SB 83 Would enact an extreme risk protection order, also known as a “red flag” law.
• SB 84 Would prohibit purchase of firearms by an individual who has an extreme risk protection order. TIE BAR WITH SB 83.
• SB 85 Enacts sentencing guidelines for making a false statements in relation to an extreme risk protection order.
• SB 86 Would allow court fees for the service of processing extreme protection order actions.

The (literal) fatal flaw in all of these packages is that they are an attempt to curb gun violence rather than guns themselves. They each rely on incentivization and prevention logic that is fundamentally not how the law is capable of operating. 

SB 76 through SB 80 are an increase in penalties and criminal charges for illegally owning, storing, or selling various weapons. As is the case with making anything illegal, in order for the law to prevent things from happening it requires people to be caught. Further, someone who is going to use a gun to commit an act of mass murder is likely not going to be concerned that they're breaking some sub-category of the State's penal code by owning the firearm in the first place. 

SB 81 and SB 82 are an attempt to make firearm safety devices and storage boxes cheaper. The idea must be to incentivize people to better store their weapons by relying on the good old free market. This should hardly count as doing anything, maybe it's a bone thrown to the gun hounds. But it's striking to me that in what is considered a landmark gun reform package there is still this latent understanding that we are going to live in a country just teeming with guns and gun owners.

SB 83 and everything after implements and enhances what are referred to as "Red Flag" laws. These laws have shown some progress in preventing gun violence (although the jury is still out if we can even say they "work"). Essentially it allows a  state court to remove guns from the home of someone they deem a potential danger. It's easy to imagine this being used to prevent some mass shootings, even the two shootings in Michigan assuming the courts were tipped off correctly and took action. There are still many gun owners - both legal and not - who could commit terrible acts of violence without a single warning. Prevention hardly seems like the appropriate rhetoric to use here.  

None of this is to dunk on state Democrats. Michigan is a a state with a decently large number of gun owners and gun-owner sympathizers (like every Republican), so this could very well be the best a state government could do. 

But I have to wonder what my ideal package would look like. Particularly at the state level, if I was made God Emperor of the US I would nationalize and abolish gun and ammunition manufacturers on day one. If most gun advocates see the above package of bills as too aggressive, my proposals would look like an authoritarian nightmare. And maybe it would be authoritarian, but I happen to believe living under and raising a family under constant threat of murder is pretty oppressive. 

So here are 10 proposals I would implement to curb guns, and subsequently gun violence, in the state of Michigan:

1. Immediately end the sale of all weapons and ammunition in retail stores across the state and provide a scheduled end and buyout of all small weapons and ammunition dealers in the state. Making it effectively illegal to sell guns and ammunition in a retail setting. 
2. Ban all trade shows and events in which there is a sale of guns
3. Ban carrying guns over the state border for commercial sale or trade.
4. Do a scheduled and aggressive "no questions asked" gun buyback program offering well above market value 
5. Do a scheduled and aggressive ammunition buyback program offering well above market value 
6. Implement a more aggressive red flag law that permanently confiscates firearms after the court order is rendered 
7. Sentencing for firearms to extend to permanent confiscation of all firearms for improper firearm use, registration, ownership, or storage 
8. Expanded sentencing for individuals illegally selling firearms 
9. Immediately end the manufacture of ammunition and firearms in the state of Michigan
10. Ban open and concealed carry of a firearm by any civilian, resident, or visitor to the state of Michigan

As aggressive as these policies are, they still wouldn't "end" gun violence. It would take massive federal action to curb the gun ownership, production, and use this country sees on a daily basis. It's also important to note the ravaging level of opposition, possibly violent opposition, policies like this would see at an alarming scale. Yet it's still worth thinking about what it would take to effectively end gun violence rather than attempting to curb it. 

*As of this writing, the Michigan legislature has passed these bills. We can only hope the statistics fall in our favor.