Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Summit begins ahead of gun reforms going into effect.

[Lt. Gov. Garlin] Gilchrist spoke alongside other gun violence stakeholders, including Maya Manuel, 21, a student advocate at Michigan State University’s campus where a deadly shooting killed three students and injured five others on Feb. 13 [2023].

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last spring signed several gun safety bills, but they don’t go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourned, which makes them effective on Feb. 13 — which happens to be the first anniversary of the MSU shooting.

“This is an opportunity for us to prepare to challenge those who are comfortable with people dying of preventable deaths in the state of Michigan. I am not comfortable with that. Gov. Whitmer is not comfortable with that,” Gilchrist said.… “On the flip side … somebody was."

Honestly? As much as I truly hope these mandated safeguards help to curb gun violence, firearms are so ingrained in American culture —unlike almost any other world —that it's going to take a seismic cultural shift in attitude to see a magnitude less of disgraces like the almost-daily mass shootings in public places, to avoid horrors like this child who shot himself in the face, unfortunately just another one of the many instances.

Call it low-hanging fruit, say it's obvious, but it needed to be said, Lt Governor…

“Every single death by a gun in Michigan and America in the world is 100% preventable,” Gilchrist said. “That means that we have the power to stop all of this death in all of our communities — no matter what community you live in. No matter what the shape and spirit of gun violence looks like. No matter whether it is suicide or homicide, they are all preventable.”