Most Michigan Schools Ignoring State’s Gun Control Mandate

Two years ago, Michigan lawmakers adopted a “Safe Homes, Safe Schools” bill that requires all public and private schools distribute gun storage information to parents and guardians. The law took effect in February 2025, but according to a new audit from a gun control outfit called End Gun Violence Michigan, less than half of the school districts in the state are in compliance with the law. 

The group says it “combed the websites of more than 500 Michigan school districts to evaluate who was following the law” and created a report card grading the results. The organization admits that it don’t know if any districts sent information home with students, but claim that “websites are a good place to start.” 

Based solely on those websites, about 58 percent of the state’s school districts are not in compliance with the law. Late last month, some lawmakers and activists were warning that this year’s deadline was fast approaching.

Sherri Masson, with Statewide Indivisible Michigan, said districts have until October to comply with the state’s Safe Homes, Safe Schools law.

“As of September 1st, 50% of the school districts are complying with the Safe Home Safe Schools law,” Masson said. 

“Schools must distribute approved information to parents before October of each year,” [State Rep. Sharon] MacDonell said.

Or what? According to Lauren Jasinski, who’s a member of End Gun Violence Michigan, the law imposes no consequences for school districts that don’t comply with the law. It’s an unfunded and unenforceable mandate. 

The law itself is deeply problematic, and if school districts are going to post information about it I’d also like to see them point out its flaws. 

According to the Michigan Department of Education’s website, the law requires individuals “keep unattended weapons unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if it is reasonably known that a minor is likely to be present on the premises.” 

That renders virtually any firearm that’s not being carried (or “attended” to) useless for self-defense, which should raise some constitutional issues. 

There are also a number of exceptions, however. And the last one is pretty important.

(7) This section does not apply under any of the following circumstances:

    (a) A minor who does all of the following:

    (i) Obtains a firearm with the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian.

    (ii) Uses or possesses the firearm while the minor is under the supervision of the minor’s parent, guardian, or any individual who is 18 years of age or older and who is authorized by the person’s parent or guardian.

    (iii) Uses or possesses the firearm during any of the following:

    (A) The minor’s employment.

    (B) Ranching or farming.

    (C) Target practice or instruction in the safe use of a firearm.

    (b) A minor who obtains a firearm with the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian and who uses or possesses the firearm for the purposes of hunting if the minor is in compliance with all applicable hunting laws.

    (c) A minor who obtains a firearm through the minor’s unlawful entry of any premises or the motor vehicle where the firearm has been stored.

    (d) A minor who obtains a firearm while lawfully acting in self-defense or defense of another.

The statute recognizes that a minor may lawfully need access to a firearm for self-defense, but it doesn’t explain how parents can provide that access in advance without violating the storage requirements.

Are moms and dads supposed to text their daughter combination to unlock the safe or tell her where the key is located when someone breaks into the home while they’re on a date? I’m trying to figure out how that exception works in practice, but I’m not having much luck. 

The Michigan law requiring school districts to inform parents about the storage mandates may not be enforceable, but that’s not the case for the storage mandates themselves. There have been several incidents where toddlers have gotten ahold of unsecured firearms and have shot others, and the parents have been charged in each of those cases. 

I haven’t found any cases where parents have been prosecuted after their teenage child accessed a firearm for self-defense, but the possibility of criminal charges raises some serious questions about the law’s impact on our Second Amendment rights. 

Michigan lawmakers apparently recognized that minors might need to defend themselves with a firearm, but they don’t seem to have given much thought about how that could happen without putting their parents at risk of prosecution. The exception may protect parents after a justified defensive shooting, but I’d like to know how they’re supposed to prepare for that possibility beforehand.

I don’t think it should be up to school districts to inform parents about the state’s storage law, but if they’re tasked with doing so they should be providing accurate information about all of its provisions, including the self-defense exception. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their extreme gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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