Michigan faith leaders are meeting with members of the state Legislature to push for action on gun safety.

House leaders, including Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, and several others, are attending a Monday forum with the Council of Baptist Pastors and the group End Gun Violence Michigan. Democratic leaders, already working to pass gun violence legislation, are now "fast-tracking" the bills in the wake of last month's deadly shooting at Michigan State University.

Ryan Bates, communications director for End Gun Violence Michigan, said the pastors will also discuss the effect gun violence is having on their congregations.

"Faith leaders are coming together with elected leaders to discuss the reality and the challenges that neighborhoods are facing, and to hear what legislators are doing about gun violence," Bates explained.

Lawmakers are considering a package of firearms safety bills, including universal background checks, safe storage requirements, and red flag laws allowing judges to temporarily confiscate guns from individuals deemed to be unsafe. The forum is at the Jordan Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit.

The Feb. 13 shooting left three MSU students dead and critically injured five others. But Bates noted it was not an isolated incident. Every year, 1,270 people die, and guns wound more than 2,400 in Michigan.

He emphasized they hope to humanize the grim statistics.

"We'll be hearing from survivors of gun violence -- parents who've lost their children -- who want more to be done," Bates pointed out. "We know that the goal of ending gun violence, and having a state where all of our children come home from school or from a birthday party, that's going to take a lot of work."

Community volunteers in New Hampshire are turning unwanted firearms into garden tools as part of a nationwide effort to reduce gun violence.

Under state law, police cannot destroy guns coming into their possession. They have to either store them, use them, or sell them back to the public.

Nancy Brown, project coordinator for the group GunSense NH, said the "Guns to Gardens" program gives gun owners a chance to remove a firearm from circulation, and create something beautiful.

"'And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,'" Brown quoted. "It's a very old concept, but it's one whose time has come to kind-of be revived, I think."

The "Guns to Gardens" event is tomorrow in Concord at the Wesley United Methodist Church. Gun owners can bring their unwanted weapons to be turned into scrap metal and donated to be transformed into garden tools and other works of art. Volunteers said they hope to make it an annual event.

Research shows having a gun in the home is tied to a higher risk of fatal injury. In New Hampshire, 135 deaths involve firearms each year, and 90% of those gun deaths are suicides. Brown noted even the most responsible gun owners are at risk of harm.

"It's really important to evaluate," Brown recommended. "Is something that is actually going to keep me safer, or is this something that is going to make me and my family less safe?"

Brown pointed out gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children in the U.S.

She stated she has already received calls from people who would like their firearms disabled and destroyed, adding the ownership of the weapon never changes and participation in the program can anonymous.


get more stories like this via email

Grassroots organizations created to address gun violence are on the increase, in Indiana and across the country, in the wake of more mass shootings at public gatherings, workplaces and schools.

Indiana has seen two mass shootings, one in 2021 at a shipping facility and last year at a shopping mall, which left a total of 12 fatalities.

The Indiana chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is part of a national organization promoting gun safety and efforts to end gun violence.

Cathy Weinmann, a volunteer for the group, said many people mistakenly believe the group is working to curtail gun ownership rights.

"We are not an anti-gun group," Weinmann explained. "Many, many, many of our members are gun owners, and what they and we promote is responsible gun ownership and legislation, local laws and national laws, federal laws that promote gun safety and responsibility."

Weinmann believes the confusion stems from messages by pro-gun rights groups trying to scare gun owners with threats that any response to the country's mass shootings would mean taking away their firearms. Her group believes there are more reasonable and sensible approaches. Moms Demand Action now has more than 10 million supporters, with chapters in every state.

Tracking the sale and possession of guns is an important law enforcement tool. According to a 2021 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms report, nearly 8,100 pistols were either recovered in Indiana or had been sold here.

Weinmann noted her group is convinced tightening at least some gun-ownership requirements is needed - although convincing lawmakers of this has been a challenge.

"Our wonderful state legislature passed permitless carry two sessions ago," Weinmann pointed out. "That means you don't have to have anything to carry a concealed weapon in the State of Indiana."

The ATF report also revealed the Indiana city where most weapons were recovered is Indianapolis. The most guns were recovered from people between the ages of 31 and 40.


get more stories like this via email

Minnesota appears to be on the verge of adopting new gun-safety laws.

Some of the common talking points have come up in debate, but groups demanding action say the proposals have evidence on their side. The proposals cleared their final legislative hurdles Monday as part of a larger public safety bill.

One provision would establish extreme no-risk protection orders, where someone deemed a threat to themselves or others would be temporarily blocked from having access to firearms. Another expands background checks for gun shows and private gun sales.

Molly Leutz, Minnesota chapter lead for the group Moms Demand Action, said the proposals are not "knee-jerk" reaction laws.

"There is evidence from these laws being in place in other states that they have efficacy in reducing gun violence," Leutz pointed out.

University of Michigan researchers say protection order laws appear to be an effective tool in preventing firearm incidents, such as mass shootings. And Johns Hopkins University said states without universal background checks have 30% higher levels of seeing guns eventually getting into the hands of criminals.

The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus contends the provisions would burden lawful gun owners without reducing firearm crimes or suicide rates.

Maggiy Emery, interim executive director of Protect Minnesota, echoes sentiments from others, saying these are worthwhile strategies based on how they've been applied elsewhere. She said there's no "one-size-fits-all" approach to reducing gun violence, but added these would be important solutions to build on.

"These bills represent the bottom-line, common-sense, should-have-been-done-years-ago things that Minnesota is behind on," Emery contended. "And once we get these over the finish line, that's really going to open up an opportunity for us to think about what else can we be doing here that's going to be really effective in saving lives."

Federal data show suicides make up a majority of firearm deaths in Minnesota, and Emery feels the protection order provision could be very effective in preventing those situations. Gov. Tim Walz has indicated he would sign such laws into place.


get more stories like this via email