EXPERT ADVISORY

Michigan’s new gun laws take effect Feb. 13, ushering in opportunities to prevent injuries and deaths.

In this video, University of Michigan researcher April Zeoli of the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention explains the implementation of the new laws and their effects on suicide, homicide, and gun violence against children, law enforcement officers and intimate partners.

The new laws:

• Extreme risk protection orders, or red flag laws, permit law enforcement officials, family members and intimate partners, and health care providers to petition the court to consider temporarily removing firearms from individuals determined to pose harm to themselves or others.
• Firearms safety and storage law requires gun owners who have children or know children will be in their home to safely store weapons secured and unloaded.
• Gun licensing law strengthens current laws that require purchasers of long guns and handguns from dealers or private citizens to apply to governmental agencies for a license and undergo a background check.
• A fourth law passed after the prior three will prohibit individuals convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from accessing firearms for eight years after completion of penalties.

Similar laws already on the books in other states are linked to decreases in loss of life, says Zeoli, who is also an associate professor of health management and policy at U-M’s School of Public Health.

Her research expertise includes firearm violence between intimate partners. She has also evaluated extreme risk protection orders implementation and outcomes in states with a longer history of similar laws.

Related story: U-M expert on state’s new Extreme Risk Protection Order/red flag law