Senator McBroom Calls Safe Storage, Universal Background Checks, More Fluff From Lansing

Senator Ed McBroom and Representative Greg Markkanen traveled back to the Upper Peninsula over the weekend: stopping by the Copper Country League of Women Voters annual meeting before heading out to other stops in the region.

Last Thursday Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Michigan’s safe storage and universal background check acts. Requiring gun owners to have a trigger lock on firearms or stored in a safe when not in use or on their person. Plus extending Michigan’s universal back ground check law to long guns and shotguns, and eliminates the private sale “loophole”. Senator Ed McBroom called the acts more window dressing from Lansing.

“Safe storage, Universal background checks, are really just window dressing. A lot of fluff. They talk about, you know, oh look at us we closed the background check loophole. But what was the background check loophole? I mean background checks in Michigan were fantastically robust already.” – Senator Ed McBroom, Michigan 38th District

He went further expressing a desire to focus on what he believes is the more important conversation relating to gun violence, by addressing mental health.

“Right now for the Upper Peninsula, we have to look at a community of another 300,000 people in another part of the country. And see how do they have the critical mass needed to get those services, and access to services. That we don’t have, because we’re spread out across fifteen counties.” – Senator Ed McBroom, Michigan 38th District

Senator McBroom wants more accessibility to mental care facilities, and said that there may need to be out of the box thinking to address the issue. With the Upper Peninsula’s small population spread across nearly a third of the state’s landmass, transportation or finding nearby care in general can be very difficult. Senator McBroom says that he plans to meet with community leaders from around his district over the coming week, to help jump start more of the mental health conversation as it relates to gun violence.