Mich. Dems renew push for gun control

LANSING, Mich. – Democrats vowed to push new gun-control legislation and to try to revive stalled bills in Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature following a mass shooting that left four high school students dead and others with serious injuries.

But GOP leaders, who have long opposed such measures and have favored looser restrictions, did not immediately commit to policy changes.

“We can’t do nothing,” Sen. Rosemary Bayer, a Democrat whose district includes Oxford High School, told reporters Wednesday after senators held a moment of silence for the dead. “We have to take action. Right this minute, today, I think I really, really want to focus on the families and ... just trying to help them know that we’re here for them, that we’re supporting them in any way we can.”

Earlier this year, mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado reignited calls from gun-control advocates for tighter

restrictions on buying firearms and ammunition. But with Democrats in control of the federal government, gunrights advocates have been persuading Republican-run legislatures to go the other way, and make it easier to obtain and carry guns.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who opposes relaxing restrictions, said gun violence is a public health crisis. She called for unspecified “actions” beyond “thoughts and prayers” but did not elaborate. She has previously backed a measure that would let judges order the seizure of firearms from people who pose a significant risk to themselves or others.

In June, Bayer introduced legislation aimed at holding accountable adults who fail to secure their firearms. The 15-year-old charged in Tuesday’s slayings, Ethan Crumbley, illegally had a handgun that his father had bought four days earlier, authorities said.

The bill would require adults to keep a firearm in a securely locked container if they know it is accessible to minors. If a minor obtained the gun and used it to kill or injure, the adult would face up to five years in prison. There would be exceptions if minors have permission for activities like target practice and hunting.

Republicans have not held a hearing on the measure or other gun-control legislation.

PAUL SANCYA/AP A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., killing several students and wounding multiple other people.