LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – The Senate is expected to vote on a package of gun safety bills, and this brought high-powered advocates to mid-Michigan.
The Michigan Senate spent Wednesday getting ready to vote on a package of bills designed to help reduce gun violence.
It’s a debate that has been going on for decades.
One of the advocates who organized Wednesday’s rally is former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. She survived gun violence back in 2011 when she was shot in the head. She along with Michigan Democrats and others who survived school shootings and gun violence are hoping for real reforms.
Safe storage, background checks, and red flag laws are what advocates lined up at the capitol to support, including high school senior Dylan Morris. He witnessed his classmates run for their lives during the mass shooting at Oxford High School.
He says if the safe storage law had been in place, chances are the shooting would not have happened.
“Just be a kid. Well, I can’t be a kid. The moment that the shooter gained access to the unsecured firearm and decided to use it in that hallway, that was the moment that I lost my childhood,” said Morris.
“Our lives can change so quickly. Mine did when I was shot. I learned when people care for each other, and work together, progress is possible,” said Giffords.
But there was a small group at the rally who oppose the three bills, including Leslie Cushing, who says she wants her second amendment rights to remain.
“I’m against the red flag laws. If my sister gets pissed at me and calls and says ‘she’s a crazy lady, she’s got guns’, they come and take my guns, I have to fight to get them back. And if they wanna protect schools, they should arm the teachers,” said Cushing.
As for students like Morris, he says the only thing kids should be worried about is learning and not active shooter drills.
“That’s not enough. We shouldn’t have to have these measures in place, we should have real preventative solutions,” he said.
The Senate is expected to vote on the three new bills sometime on Thursday.
