LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Amid a female-dominated inauguration day in Michigan with blue and pink outfits, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer took to the stage in her bright pink coat and announced gun control as one of her priorities during her next administration as governor.

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Her speech came after she took the oath of office to be sworn in to her second term as governor, administered by Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, the first black woman to serve on the court. The speech also followed a 19-gun salute by the 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery. From there, she talked about her priorities, including gun control.

During her speech, Gov. Whitmer said, “Let’s reduce gun violence – the number one killer of kids in this country – by pursuing common sense reforms here.”

Those reforms include things she has talked about in the past to reporters and also during her debates with GOP challenger Tudor Dixon. They include red flag laws, increasing background checks and secure storage laws. During the gubernatorial debate, the governor had said that Dixon would put the “second amendment over second graders every time – and we cannot let that happen.”

With a Democratic controlled legislature for the first time in four decades, Gov. Whitmer will undoubtedly find it much easier to pass those priorities in the new legislative session.

Governor Whitmer did an interview with Bridge Michigan in November 2022 where she talked about her plans to work with the new legislature to get things accomplished regarding gun control. She told them, “Its new territory for a lot of people. I’m excited about what I think we’re going to be able to get done.”

After Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty in the Oxford High School Shooting in October of 2022, Gov. Whitmer reiterated her three priorities for gun control when she said, “As Michiganders, we must do more to protect each other from gun violence…Let’s work together on background checks, secure storage, and red flag laws – common sense gun violence prevention measures to keep our communities safe.”

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She told Bridge Michigan, “I think that these are each individually proven policy solutions that could mitigate the likelihood of a future shooting and so I think that’s where we need to start.”

She continued, “I do believe that you will all of a sudden see a very different environment in Lansing where the Oxford families and advocates will have the ability to make their voices heard and to inform and drive the policy change that this current legislature (2022) has completely shut the door to.”

On July 26, 2022, Gov. Whitmer signed an executive directive to reduce gun violence and crime by using federal money from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The money was directed to be used by state government departments and law enforcement agencies to coordinate and invest all available resources into crime and gun violence intervention and prevention.

Before signing the directive, she held a roundtable in Kalamazoo with the medical community, faith leaders, hunters, members of law enforcement, students and people who were personally affected by gun violence. She had told Michigan Radio at the time, “We’ve got to do everything we can to curtail the gun violence.”

Gov. Whitmer said at the Kalamazoo roundtable, “…Today, far too many families in Michigan do not feel safe in their neighborhoods because of crime and gun violence. That is unacceptable – we must top the violence and hold people accountable. We need to tackle both crime and gun violence simultaneously because they are inextricably linked – nearly 1 in 3 reported violent crimes involve a firearm and in the first six months of this year alone, over 450 Michiganders have died because of gun violence.”