Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

Officials made recommendations to address gun violence.

The Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force released their first report, with a focus on addressing gun violence and reducing firearm-related deaths and injuries, on Tuesday.

“Every Michigander deserves to feel safe when they are at work, school or just walking down the street,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. “As a former prosecutor, I’m committed to public safety and proud of the $1.6 billion we’ve invested to keep people safe across six balanced, bipartisan state budgets. These recommendations by the task force will build on our record investments and efforts to enact common-sense gun violence prevention laws like background checks, safe storage, extreme risk protection orders and stronger penalties for convicted domestic abusers. Together, we will ensure Michiganders can feel safe from gun violence no matter where they live.”

Whitmer established the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, part of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, under Executive Order 2024-4. Members of the task force work to identify root causes of gun violence, compile and report data, maximize existing resources, solicit perspectives from community partners from across the state and recommend policies.

Its membership includes state department directors, medical experts, law enforcement professionals, tribal representatives, academic researchers and more.

“These initial recommendations outline solutions that will save lives and prevent needless tragedies,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive and Chair of the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, said. “Gun violence is the leading cause of death in children across the country and, as such, we must address it as a public health issue.

The task force developed their recommendations over the last five months. They address firearms-related suicide, community violence, school safety, intimate partner violence and implementation of existing legislation.

There have been 101 mass shootings in the country in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Michigan hasn’t had any mass shootings this year, but there have been multiple reports of firearms being used in crimes, including the recent incident in Highland Twp., when 21-year-old Michael Devon Webb reportedly fatally shot his fiancée, 23-year-old Rachel Renee Wooten. Webb has been charged with first-degree murder.

Recommendations include:

- Develop funding mechanisms for the implementation of the task force recommendations.

- Create a workgroup to implement the recommendations that includes directors or their representatives from various governmental agencies and non-government entities and organizations to increase the capacity and impact of firearm injury prevention programs and research.

- Improve access to out-of-home safe storage options for firearms for families with someone in crisis.

- Build a coordinated, community-driven collaboration (holistic ecosystem) and share best practices to support community violence intervention leaders and prevention partners across the state.

- Create a standard definition of a school resource officer with ongoing training and education.

- Amend the law to ensure that safe surrender and relinquishment of an illegal firearm in Personal Protection Orders, Misdemeanor Convictions for Domestic Violence and Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) cases hold no legal liability unless connected with a crime.

- Standardize statewide law enforcement and court processes and protocols around ERPO and require all law enforcement agencies to have an ERPO protocol.

- Update existing legislation that requires relinquishment, removal and storage of firearms after the firearm possession ban.

- Clarify the process of temporary transfers of firearms when someone is in crisis or at risk, so that those engaged in these transfers are not in violation of the law.

The task force will refine the recommendations, create an implementation and analysis roadmap and explore collaboration and funding opportunities over the next six months.

More information about the task force can be found at the link below.