Dear Friend, 

Every Michigander deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood. 

That’s why, since I took office, we’ve taken action to reduce gun violence by enacting commonsense, new laws like universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, stronger penalties for domestic abusers, and safe storage requirements. 

If you own a firearm, Michigan’s new safe storage law requires you to secure it safely when kids are in your home. Keeping our kids safe is one of my top priorities, and it's a responsibility we all share. Check out more information below on safe storage. 

I’m committed to taking evidence-based action to protect our communities, and I’m grateful for Michiganders who are working together to keep us safe. That’s why we’ve also continued work with law enforcement to remove illegal guns from our communities. I’m proud to share that we’ve taken nearly 850 illegal guns off the street through Operation Safe Neighborhoods, another tool we’re using to prevent violence before it happens. 

Let’s keep working together to build a safer Michigan for everyone. 

Gretchen Whitmer

Governor 

Michigan’s safe storage law, effective February 13, 2024, requires firearm owners to safely store their firearms when someone younger than 18 years old is, or is likely to be, present. That means keeping unattended firearms: 

• Unloaded and locked with a locking device or  

• Stored in a locked box or container.  

If you're a parent or guardian, have a conversation with your child about firearm safety. And if your child is going to someone else's home, don’t hesitate to ask if firearms are present and how they’re stored. This is especially important during the summer as kids visit family or a friend’s house. 

There are several important safety considerations regarding firearms for parents, guardians, grandparents, or anyone who has children or teens visit their home. Children and teens face a higher risk of suicide, unintentional injury or death, or homicide when firearms are present in the home. Teens often struggle with depression or other mental health issues, which may also increase the risk of firearm injury. Learn the facts about firearm safety and measures you can take to protect your family with the additional resources below:

How to Securely Store Your Firearm 

• MDHHS Firearm Safety 

• Safe Firearm Storage Toolkit 

• Firearm Storage Requirements and Penalties 

Firearm Safety Policies and Resources 

• Overview of Michigan’s Firearm Safety Laws 

• Extreme Risk Protection Order Information and Implementation Toolkit 

• Firearm Safety and Harm Prevention 

• Firearm Injury Prevention 

Last year, we enacted commonsense gun violence prevention laws to keep families safe. These are a big deal, and I’m proud we got them done.

1. Universal background checks for all gun purchases will help keep guns out of the hands of violent criminals, domestic abusers, and people on terrorism watch lists and no-fly lists. 

2. Safe storage requirements will help ensure that children do not accidentally get their hands on firearms. 

3. Extreme risk protection orders, or red flag laws, will allow family, mental health providers, or law enforcement concerned about someone seeking to harm themselves or others to get a court order to temporarily confiscate their firearms. 

4. Stronger penalties for domestic abusers will help curb gun violence related to domestic disputes. This law disallows convicted domestic abusers from owning firearms. 

I proposed these commonsense gun violence prevention laws during my 2023 State of the State address and worked with the Michigan Legislature, community groups, law enforcement, students and parents following the shooting at Michigan State University in February 2023 and the shooting at Oxford High School in November 2021 to get these measures signed into law. 

Last year, we also established the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, building on our work to protect public safety and save lives. Our new task force of experts in medicine, law enforcement, and policy will address the root causes of gun violence, use data to identify policy opportunities, and recommend actions to save lives.