SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — In the wake of last week's mass shooting at Michigan State University, Democratic lawmakers filed a host of bills targeting gun safety.
Some of the proposed measures would require the secure storage of firearms, universal background checks and red flag law, which allows courts to temporarily seize guns from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
But experts say Michigan's current gun safety laws already meet some of the requirements.
William Kucyk is the owner of Action Impact Firearms and Training Center, a gun store and shooting range in Southfield. He is also a retired Oakland County SWAT commander, major crimes detective, U.S. Army veteran and attorney.
Kucyk says he understands the need to fight gun violence. He said the deadly shootings at Michigan State and Oxford High School have impacted him.
“I graduated from Michigan State. I have children that graduated from Michigan State, so it certainly hit home. And the Oxford community is one I'm quite familiar with. But I'm also familiar with Detroit and Detroit experiences at almost on a weekly basis,” he said.
Kucyk says most gun store owners feel the same safety will always come first.
“Seven days a week at two stores, I have firearms safety classes going on. And then after that, we teach them the laws,” Kucyk said. “(We tell them) These are the laws you have to follow if you decide to carry a gun in our communities.”
Kucyk says from background checks to handgun registration, responsible gun stores have many protocols to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands.
“If you can come up with a reasonable law that I think is designed and effective to save lives, I'm for it as much as anybody,” Kucyk said.
Former Macomb County Prosecutor and Judge Carl Marlinga says compared to other states, Michigan is in the middle of the road when it comes to gun laws.
“There’s no requirement to have a purchase permit for a long gun. There are internet sales that go unchecked and there are private sales that goes unchecked,” Marlinga said. “Look, everybody agrees that people who are felons, people who committed a dangerous misdemeanor, people with mental health issues, these are the people who should not be possessing guns”
A recent study by Everytown for Gun Safety shows that there is a direct correlation in states with weaker gun laws and higher rates of gun-related fatalities.
For instance, California, New York and Hawaii topped the list with the strongest gun laws in the country, while clocking in the lowest gun deaths per 100,000 residents.
Meanwhile, Michigan ranked 24th on the list with a gun violence rate worse than average, possibly due to “missing key laws.”
It has some wondering which of Michigan’s existing gun laws work.
“Well, the background checks generally work. If you do commit an act of violence, for which it's a felony, you are then subject to the felon in possession charges, that you can't own, possess a firearm,” Marlinga said.
That's where defense attorneys like Michael Dezsi step in. Regardless of the charges, Dezsi says his goal is to have it reduced to a lesser offense.
Dezsi says he doesn’t believe Michigan has enough laws, specifically with screening.
“Like the red flag laws and safe storage laws. We certainly have enough laws to criminalize illegal gun ownership or illegal gun transfer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kucyk believes that a mental health crisis needs to be addressed first.
“If you kill somebody, you can go to prison for the rest of your life — some states, they’ll put you to death. That's not enough to discourage an active shooter,” Kucyk said. “So what makes us think that any other proposed laws are going to change that?”
Marlinga says gun reform laws won’t stop all violence.
“If we can save one mass shooting, if we can save one victim. I think we owe it to ourselves to make sure that we do everything that we can,” Marlinga said.
