After the shooting rampage at Michigan State University, Michigan Democrats want to hasten the implementation of new gun control regulations.
Democrats now have control of the state’s three major seats of power after winning the two state legislatures in the 2022 midterm elections. Moreover, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) was elected again.
Now that Republicans are more willing to move forward with gun control legislation, the party has a chance to do so. The mass shooting on Monday at Michigan State University provides them with a chance to hasten the passage of the measure.
“We’re going to try to move faster. After years of not getting an inch, now we’re making real plans. Some of the legislation we have goes back 10 years. We just haven’t been able to get any traction to do anything. We had a schedule that we’re trying to move up even more. We were targeting right after the first week of April, that’s what we were planning for, but we want to respond quicker,” Democratic state Sen. Rosemary Bayer said.
She continued by outlining the timeframe for the new law, although she urged the party to take action sooner.
“One of the models we’ve seen in these horrible tragedies is that we need to act quickly. Even in Florida, they were able to get it done in a red legislature. I think we can do that with a Democratic trifecta. There are conversations we’re having as soon as today to figure out timelines to expedite this process,” Darrin Camilleri, a Democratic state senator, backed Bayer’s remarks.
Whitmer stated in her State of the State address last month that she intended to give gun control legislation top priority well before the shooting.
