The Michigan Senate voted to ban bump stocks and so-called ghost guns Wednesday.
Bump stocks can increase the firing speed of a gun. One was used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that left 60 people dead at a country music festival. Ghost guns can be assembled at home from kits or 3D printed and don’t have serial numbers, making them nearly impossible to track.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had issued a rule restricting ghost guns during Biden Administration. This past spring, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld part of those rules that could require ghost guns, in some instances, to receive serial numbers.
But the bill sponsors want to go a step further for Michigan.
Senator Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) said the ghost gun and bump stock bills, as well as bills to codify a weapons ban at the state capitol, would keep people safe.
“Nobody needs a bump stock, which turns a regular gun into a machine gun. Nobody needs a gun in the capitol. We have children coming through here every year by the thousands. These are common sense bills,” Polehanki told reporters.
Republicans largely voted against the bills. They argued the legislation would punish gun owners without addressing the root causes of violence.
Senator Joe Bellino (R-Monroe) said they would threaten Second Amendment rights without protecting anyone.
“Criminals intent on doing harm, they don’t really care about the law. Anyone brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner at our capitol should be and is being held accountable by existing laws. We should all here be focusing our energy and resources on measures that continue to make our community safer,” Bellino said.
Other Democrats rejected that argument, however.
Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said there’s still a point to making laws, even if criminals break them.
"It’s just a bogus argument that is a way of taking on challenging conversations,” McMorrow said.
Still, other Republican opposition revolved around the idea that the restrictions could cause more burdens for responsible gun owners.
Senator Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) said making people register their home-built guns would cause a headache without fixing gun violence.
“This would not only create confusion and fear among hobbyists and collectors but would also flood the already overwhelmed public agencies with new administrative responsibilities,” Runestad said during a floor speech.
The bills next head to the Michigan House, where Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said Wednesday afternoon they would be dead on arrival.
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