The Michigan Legislature’s firearm safety caucus on Wednesday released a slate of priorities for the current legislative session, including proposed restrictions on gun accessories, expanded liability requirements for dealers and new limits on firearm purchases.
Representative Helena Scott (D-Detroit) said the caucus will pursue bans on high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to shoot in rapid-fire bursts similar to machine guns. The group is also backing legislation to require gun buyers to be at least 21 years old and to establish a three-day waiting period between a firearm purchase and when the buyer can take possession.
“This is a straightforward safeguard designed to slow down moments of crisis,” Scott said of the waiting period.
The proposals also include allowing state-level lawsuits against gun manufacturers and requiring firearm dealers to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance.
Rep. Julie Brixie, who chairs the caucus, said the package would create new accountability measures for gun sellers, including a state-level licensing system for dealers tied to the insurance requirement.
“Our package ensures gun sales are done properly and that sellers are held liable if they sell a firearm to someone who is prohibited from owning one,” Brixie said.
Supporters said the measures would build on gun laws adopted after the mass shootings at Oxford High School in 2021 and Michigan State University in 2023.
Gun violence prevention advocates gathered in Lansing on Wednesday to press lawmakers to act. Detroit pastor Barry Randolph endorsed the caucus agenda at a press conference and argued more steps are needed to keep firearms out of the wrong hands.
“These corrupt gun dealers are putting money in their pockets while we are putting our children in the ground, and this needs to stop,” Randolph said. “If we can turn off the tap of guns into our community, we can absolutely end gun violence.”
Randolph also pointed to what he said are signs that recently enacted laws are having an effect, saying that accidental shootings of children dropped significantly from 2024 to 2025, and historically low rates of violent crime in Detroit.
In 2025, the Michigan Senate passed legislation to ban bump stocks and so-called ghost guns — firearms that lack serial numbers — but the bills have not advanced in the Republican-led House. Some Democrats have named those measures as top priorities this year.
Randolph said the earlier changes to state law are already saving lives.
“We will never know the names of the hundreds of people, soon to be thousands of Michiganders, who will live because you heard us and that you made the changes our communities demanded,” he said.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri said Democrats would need to win control of the chamber to advance more anti-gun violence legislation.
