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Michigan students fighting for gun storage laws, more mental health experts in schools

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Posted at 5:33 AM, Feb 23, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-23 06:44:52-05

(WXYZ) — More than 50 Michigan students are rallying together to get their voices heard.

The students are hoping the state will take action on gun storage laws throughout Michigan and add more mental health experts into schools.

"It will be such a productive conversation, especially hearing from young people and people from their own districts when we are talking in these meetings. We will be talking on our own experiences and why our experiences matter," Zoey Rector-Brooks a student at the University of Michigan said.

Zoey is one of the students spearheading the push.

"What we're advocating for is something that so many Michiganders agree with," they said. "This isn't some radical ask that we are trying to push for instead it's something that people on both isles know is needed."

Michigan senate and house democrats do have a series of bills they would like to pass to help strengthen Michigan's gun safety laws.

Senate bills 550-553 and house bills 5066 and 5069 would legally make gun owners store their weapons and lock them up. If they don't do so and their gun is used to cause injury or death, the gun owner would face criminal penalties.

They would also require guns to be secure when a child is inside the house.

Other bills in the senate are bills 856, 857, and 858 which are the "Red Flag bills" and are aimed at getting guns out of people who may be a threat or danger to themselves.

"Our goal as an organization is to not take away guns from people who know how to handle them usefully and know how to handle them safely but rather to make sure guns don't fall into the hands of the wrong people and someone like Ethan Crumbley," student activist Jayanti Gupta said.