gun control

Talk of new gun regulations have led to a wave of gun rights advocates showing up at local government meetings in Michigan.

The gun rights advocates have spoken up in at least 10 counties across the state, asking the counties to declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuary counties.

The local resolutions are not legally binding. But advocates say they are important.

About 100 gun rights supporters rallied on the steps of the state Capitol building in solidarity with Virginia, as a lineup of speakers warned the heavily-armed crowd that the gun control measures proposed in that state could happen in Michigan, too.

“They could literally be at our doorstep tomorrow here in Michigan with those same bills,” said DeeDee Dubose, one of the event’s organizers from Jackson. “That’s why we’re here to stand with Virginia, and our people saying, 'No, no, no, that’s not right.’”

A state lawmaker says she felt “forced” by the Speaker of the House to remove a gun free zone sign from her state House office. Democratic State Representative Kara Hope (D-Holt) put up the sign last month. She says for the safety and comfort of her staff, she didn’t want any firearms in her office.

Meijer posted its request on Twitter in a two sentence statement on Monday afternoon.

It says visible firearms can make customers and employees feel in danger.

The company's new policy does not address concealed firearms and it does not ban openly carried ones.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says it’s possible to support the Second Amendment and be in favor of gun control, and she wants the state Legislature to act in the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

A new University of Michigan study finds young people are supportive of more gun control and of guns.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health conducts a regular text message poll of young people, between the ages of 14 to 24 years old.

Flint Democrat Dan Kildee says it’s time for Congress to act to prevent future mass shootings.

By one count, there have been more than 150 mass shootings in the United States this year, including the recent deadly shooting at a Maryland newspaper.

“This is just becoming almost insanity,” says Kildee (D-Flint), “and Congress just completely fails to act.”

Michigan high school students participated in a nationwide school walkout to protest gun violence on the nineteenth anniversary of the Columbine school shooting Friday.

Students organized events at schools throughout the state. At Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, about two hundred students walked out of class and attended a student-led rally in the football stadium. Student speakers demanded tougher gun legislation, and blasted lawmakers for failing to pass popular, "common sense" measures like universal background checks. 

Republican state Senator Rick Jones says he’s working on bills to make it more difficult to rent hand guns at shooting ranges, and add some reporting requirements if a person trying to buy guns fails a background check.

Chiefly, Jones wants gun rentals to require a background check.  

Governor Rick Snyder released a plan Monday to improve school safety following the Parkland, Florida shootings.

The plan calls for boosting security at hundreds of schools, and expanding an anti-bullying tip line. A task force would also come up with more ways to improve school safety between now and the end of the year, when Governor Snyder steps down.

Snyder says these are things he believes could result in a consensus in Lansing.

The proposal also includes more active-shooter training for law enforcement, but does not include any plans directly related to guns.

Some high school students in West Michigan want U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga to speak about gun violence.

A student-led group concerned with gun violence released a video today asking the Republican Huizenga to address the issue at a town hall.

With attention to gun control legislation at the forefront of the national conscience, the Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday over whether schools can trump state law to enact their own firearm restrictions.

Both Ann Arbor Public Schools and Clio Area School District are facing lawsuits by gun rights groups after banning weapons on school grounds in 2015 and 1996, respectively.

State law currently bans guns from weapon-free school zones; however, someone with a concealed pistol permit can enter school property with an openly holstered gun.

Democratic candidates for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District were cheered at a crowded town hall at a Library in Novi on Saturday for embracing gun control reform measures as a part of their campaign.

There were several of the so-called “Town Hall for Our Lives” events in Michigan, and dozens around the nation this weekend, continuing the heightened calls for gun control measures in the wake of February’s Parkland, Florida school shooting.

Marches for stricter gun laws happened all across Michigan and the U.S. Saturday.

About 2,000 people walked from the Hall of Justice to the State Capitol, carrying signs and chanting.

Their message was simple “Our kids aren’t safe, and that needs to change.”  

The Oakland County sheriff's office says it's responded to five possible school shooting threats in the span of just five days.

Sheriff Mike Bouchard says it's not unusual to get more "copycat" threats after a school shooting like the recent one in Florida.

"It's sad,” he says. “It's incredibly sad to think that other people want to either emulate it, or get attention from it, or think it's ok."