Advocate for Tighter Gun Laws Says Michigan Could Prevent Future Violence
Michigan does not have have a specific child access prevention law that would make a parent or other adult criminally liable for allowing a firearm to fall into the hands of a minor.
The community of Oxford is still reeling, trying to band together to mourn and support one another, while also dealing with an unimaginable amount of collective trauma and fear.
Meanwhile, as we learn more horrific details of the events that led up to the mass school shooting last week at Oxford High School, many people are asking what could have prevented this latest example in America’s gun violence epidemic.
Listen: Giffords Center firearms law expert talks about Michigan’s gun regulations and what could change.
Guest
Allison Anderman is senior counsel and director of local policy for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a national organization that advocates for tighter gun regulations. She hopes that the charges of involuntary manslaughter against the suspect’s parents connected to the shooting in Oxford will call attention to the fact that Michigan’s gun laws are not strong enough.
“Michigan, unfortunately, is in the minority of states that does not have a specific child access prevention law that would make a parent or other adult criminally liable for allowing a firearm to fall into the hands of a minor,” says Anderman. “I think these charges bring awareness to that fact and hopefully generate momentum to pass that type of a law, because we know that those laws, these child access prevention laws, are very impactful at preventing the most common types of gun violence that impacts minors.”
Related: Stephen Henderson on Oxford School Shooting: We’re Still Not Having the Right Conversations
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