The director of the group Great Lakes Gun Rights promised to launch recall campaigns against any vulnerable lawmakers who support new legislation on guns in Michigan.
After last week’s fatal shooting at Michigan State University, only a few minutes away from the state capitol, Democrats in the state Senate introduced a package of 11 bills to address students’ demands for action.
- Those bills would address universal criminal background checks when purchasing a firearm; incentives to store guns safely and punish those who don’t if their firearms fall into the wrong hands; and “red-flag law” provisions that aim to keep guns out of the hands of anyone deemed a threat to themselves or others.
- The Michigan House of Representatives is preparing their own gun legislation, and has introduced a school safety package, mainly dealing with mental health support and other recommendations from last year’s school safety task force.
Brenden Boudreau, the executive director of the group Great Lakes Gun Rights said, “If they think they’re going to be able to quietly pass these bills, without repercussions, I think they’re fooling themselves.”
“All it would take is for a single Democrat state lawmaker who voted for these gun control measures to face a recall to potentially lose their election to change the calculus in the Michigan House of Representatives,” said Boudreau.
The Detroit Free Press surveyed all 148 Michigan lawmakers asking three main questions to gauge their support for new gun legislation.
- Do you support the concept of a red flag law, which would allow law enforcement to temporarily take away guns from those a court deems poses a danger to themselves or others?
- Do you support the concept of a safe storage law, which would create penalties for those who fail to lock up their guns at home to keep guns out of the hands of minors?
- Do you support the concept of universal background checks, which would require those who want to buy guns to undergo a background check?
Democrats had a 100% participation rate in the survey, but the response rate among Senate Republicans was not as high as the chamber’s Democrats.
However, a handful of Republican senators answered “maybe” or “yes” to supporting concepts.
The House has nearly three times as many members as the Senate — 110 lawmakers to 38. Still, the House participation rate for the survey was much lower than the Senate.
No House Democrat who participated in the survey came out against any of the gun safety concepts. But the higher non-response rate among caucus members highlights the narrower political margins for House Democrats. If House Republicans unite in opposition to any particular measure, Democrats would need every single Democratic vote to pass it.
Freep
When asked about the gun rights group’s threat to try to recall state lawmakers who support the gun legislation, a spokesperson for House Speaker Joe Tate said Boudreau’s “group represents a much smaller number of people compared to the vast majority of Michiganders that support commonsense gun reforms.”