LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Several Michigan agencies are partnering to help Michiganders make the transition for firearm storage to comply with newly enacted safe storage laws.
What agencies are helping?
The Michigan State Police (MSP) and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced last week that they used $500,000 in state funding appropriated in the Fiscal Year 2024 MSP budget and purchased more than 70,000 cable gun locks.
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The locks were purchased from Project ChildSafe, an educational resource group that encourages the practice of responsible firearm ownership, and will be free at the MDHHS county offices while supplies last, but not later than June according to the MDHHS.
“We are partnering with Michigan State Police, local MDHHS offices and our local health departments, to help prevent these tragedies and keep Michigan children and families safe from firearm violence,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “Our department is devoted to improving the safety and well-being of Michigan children, as outlined in our Keep Kids Safe Action Agenda, and actions such as implementing gun locks are going to make a difference when it comes to prevention efforts around firearm safety.”
Safe Storage Laws and other stricter gun laws passed this session.
In February, on the anniversary of the school shooting at Michigan State University, Michigan passed Public Act 17 of 2023.
The Public Act “requires individuals to keep stored or unattended firearms unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if it is known or reasonably should be known that a minor is, or is likely to be, present on the premises.”
“Under Michigan’s newly enacted Safe Storage (Child Access Prevention) Law, individuals can be held criminally responsible for improperly storing or leaving unattended a firearm where a minor is present or likely to be present if the minor obtains the firearm,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “Because this law seeks to prevent injuries and deaths, we want to make safe storage as easy and accessible as possible so in addition to obtaining a gun lock from many police agencies, Michiganders can now also come into a MDHHS office to pick one up, no questions asked.”
The other bills that became laws included expanded criminal background checks and registration for any firearm purchase including rifles and shotguns, as well as Red Flag laws. Also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) which would enable family members, health professionals and others to seek court ordered removal of firearms from individuals deemed unable to possess them because they pose a “threat to themselves and others.”
Where Michiganders can access these cable locks.
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Residents of the state can visit their local MDHHS office to request one of the free gun locks, and they can inquire with their local health department, some of which will have gun locks available.
Instructions for gun lock installations are included with the product, but are also available on the Project ChildSafe website.
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