A Roadmap For Safety: Policies to Reduce Gun Violence in Michigan

The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Bloomberg School of Public Health has released a new policy roadmap to assist Michigan legislators as they seek to improve state law and protect public health. Though Michigan has made substantial progress in passing policies to prevent gun violence in the state, there are still pathways forward to better protect their residents and communities from firearm-related harms. This report offers several recommendations, backed by empirical research, that state leaders should adopt. The recommendations are divided among eight main issue areas with an overview of the current state law and relevant research.  

While these recommendations are not an exhaustive list, enacting these evidence-based policies will help to reduce the burden of gun violence in Michigan. As public health practitioners, we recommend that Michigan: 

1) Improve Extreme Risk Protection Order implementation 

2) Strengthen the public carry regulations 

3) Strengthen the Firearm Purchaser Licensing process 

4) Strengthen Domestic Violence Prevention protections 

5) Prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity magazines 

6) Strengthen safe storage requirements 

7) Provide sustainability of community violence interventions  

8) Enact gun dealer licensing  

READ THE MICHIGAN POLICY ROADMAP

DOWNLOAD EXECUTIVE SUMMARYDOWNLOAD POLICY CHECKLIST 

“Though Michigan has made substantial progress in passing policies to prevent gun violence in the state, there are still pathways forward to better protect individuals and communities from firearm-related harms,” states Ethan Bartlett, MSPH ‘24, Research Data Analyst at the Center. “While it is not exhaustive, this roadmap gives state policymakers and public health practitioners a guide with evidence-based policy recommendations to make the state a safer place for all Michiganders.”  

This is the second in a series of state policy roadmaps the Center will release. Read the Illinois roadmap here.