Thread by @MalloryMcMorrow

Today, the Michigan Senate passed an 11-bill gun safety package - including Safe Storage, Universal Background Checks, and Extreme Risk Protection Orders. Speaking on my bill - which creates the ERPO Act - I shared stories of the lives these laws could have saved. #mileg

Back in 2019, after I first introduced a version of this legislation alongside then-State Rep Robert Wittenberg - I hosted a roundtable discussion on “red flag laws” in my district, in Berkley.

This panel featured no legislators - but did include Mary Miller-Strobel.

Mary spoke about her brother, Ben.

“My brother and I started the summer each year jumping into Lake Michigan on Memorial Day weekend. He was my hero. He was a hero to a lot of other people too.”

Ben was a combat veteran. After he returned home, he was suffering. Ben had lost 30 pounds after his tour. Returning home, his father asked him about the weight loss. Ben replied that he couldn’t eat. He said, “It’s just too hard out there, Dad, it smells like death.”

Ben was seeking treatment at the local VA, but his family, including Mary, were worried. Mary said that she and her dad drove to every local gun store, showing the owners pictures of Ben. They pleaded with the owners - if Ben comes in, please, please do not sell him a gun.

Ben died by suicide. Using a gun he bought at a local gun store.

Mary and her Dad knew. They saw the warning signs. They knew Ben needed help. He needed time.

A red flag law could have bought them that time. A red flag law could have saved Ben’s life.
momentsthatsurvive.org/tribute/mary-m…

A few weeks ago in committee, we met parents Karen and Mike.

Karen said, “I am a mother of triplets who should be turning 23 next week. Last year, my child Ruby shot and killed my son Bishop, then shot and killed their significant other, then shot and killed themselves."

Karen explained she was not here to excuse Ruby’s behavior. But she knows that it didn’t have to happen.

Through tears as Michael rubbed her arm, Karen explained that Ruby had long suffered from mental illness. She had major depressive disorder, a history of self-harming...

Karen learned that when Ruby turned 21, she bought a gun.

“I subscribe to the philosophy, know something, say something. So I called the police, over, and over, and over again. And every single time I was told they could not and would not revoke Ruby’s right to own a gun...

"...I am Ruby’s mother. I knew something was seriously wrong. Only a few weeks prior to this horrific event, Ruby was involuntarily committed to a mental health hospital. I called the police again while she was in and begged them to take Ruby’s guns away. I was still denied."

"Our whole family tried to help Ruby. Within weeks of discharge, Ruby went to a gun store and bought another gun.”

Michael said, “In my wildest imagination I would never think I’d be sitting here talking about this. I’m a firearm owner and CPL holder and frankly before all this I thought procedures were in place to prevent this. Had the ERPO been in place, three people would be alive today."

These are the lives that could have been saved with the legislation we have before us today. Extreme Risk Protection Orders can - and do - save lives.

6 out of every 10 gun deaths in the United States are suicides. And of those who attempt suicide by firearm, 90% are successful - significantly higher than attempts made via any other method.

In fact, a vast majority of those who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by a subsequent suicide - meaning that that moment, and the result of that first attempt, is critical in determining the ultimate outcoming for an individual in crisis.

Around the country, 19 states and Washington DC have enacted red flag laws, including Florida, Indiana, Virginia, Connecticut and others.

Red flag laws create a preventative tool, a stopgap for loved ones, judges, and law enforcement. And while it is difficult to measure “events that did not happen,” evidence shows that these extreme risk protection orders can and do reduce suicide deaths.

Connecticut saw a 14% reduction in suicide rate following the implementation of red flag laws. And Indiana similarly saw a 7.5% reduction.

In Michigan, approx. half of all suicides are by firearm. And in 2019, there were 742 suicides by firearm, including 31 children.

Based on what we’ve learned from other states, red flag laws in Michigan could have resulted in dozens of those victims still being alive today.

Researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention note the same, stating “ERPOs are a life-saving tool, not a criminal tool.”

They note that the temporary removal of firearms is not going to end their crisis, but - because it creates that separation in the midst of a crisis - may provide an opportunity for individualsbeing connected with resources and mental health services when the ERPO is granted.

As I think you’ll find with many proponents, I am not recommending that ERPO laws be passed in place of expanding mental health access and resources. Just the opposite.

Especially as we see rising rates of suicide and anxiety among young people and others, it is critical that this legislature recognize and act on both.

ERPOs are merely a tool that can provide the pause necessary to prevent violence, reduce deaths, and open a window of time for mental health resources when they are needed most - for both the at-risk individual, and the protection of those around them.

Today, the Michigan Senate took a step - a step years in the making thanks to countless hours, weeks, months, and years of work by my colleagues, their staff, central policy staff, stakeholders, law enforcement agencies, medical professionals and more.

I'm proud to be a small part in it. I know it won't bring those we've lost back, but we know it will save others from feeling the same devastating loss.