Chang was the lead sponsor of Senate Bills 471, which along with Senate Bill 528 and House Bill 4945, strengthen domestic violence protections from gun violence
LANSING, Mich. (June 21, 2024) — Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) has issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today upholding laws banning certain individuals convicted of certain domestic violence crimes from owning a gun, including the Senator’s legislation passed in Michigan last fall:
“I’ve been proud to work alongside survivors of domestic violence, advocates and concerned residents in Michigan and around the country on protecting domestic violence survivors from firearm injury or death. I am pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 8-1 ruling today to uphold these important constitutional protections. Adding firearms into the mix make already volatile and dangerous domestic situations deadly and leave abused partners — often women — in dangerous situations. Women in abusive situations are five times more likely to be killed when their abuser has a gun.
“Over the past six years of work on our legislation to protect domestic violence survivors, we always knew these specific firearm prohibitions were constitutional and will continue to be. With Michigan’s legislative action in 2023 and the court’s decision today, we are providing vital protection and helping promote safety and security for victims of domestic violence.”
Sen. Chang was the lead sponsor of Senate Bill 471, which along with Senate Bill 528 sponsored by Sen. Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp.) and House Bill 4945 sponsored by Rep. Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw), strengthen domestic violence protections in Michigan and help prevent firearm injury and death. The legislative package mirrors federal law and modifies the state’s penal code to protect domestic violence survivors by prohibiting those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes from possessing, using, purchasing or carrying a firearm in Michigan for eight years. While signed into state law in December 2023, today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court definitively upholds the constitutionality of this statute and other similar laws around the country.
BACKGROUND:
When domestic abusers have access to guns, the effects can be deadly:
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Access to a firearm makes it five times more likely an abusive partner will kill their female victim.
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Up to one in three Michigan families are impacted by domestic violence.
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According to the FBI, there were 341 domestic violence homicides in Michigan from 2003 to 2012, which include both male and female victims. Of those homicides, more than half of the victims — 51.3 percent — were killed with guns.
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Nearly half of all women murdered in the United States are killed by a current or former intimate partner, and more than half of these intimate partner homicides are by firearm.
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