LANSING, Mich. — It’s a common and frequent argument FOX 47 News has reported on gun reform in our state.
“We believe there are laws on the books that could already be used," said Brenden Boudreau, executive director of Great Lakes Gun Rights said on March 2.
Another frequent argument we heard was “the gun laws that are currently on the books aren’t being enforced," Jon Rocha told us on March 15 at the rally hosted by Giffords for Gun Safety.
"Criminals don’t follow laws as we know. Everything that happened at MSU, complete tragedy, was already illegal," said state Rep. Angela Rigas on March 22.
These points raise questions about did the system of laws we have in place fail? Why implement more laws if we’re not enforcing the ones we already passed? And specifically for the Michigan State University community, was there more that could have been done to prevent the mass shooting. For answers, we sat down with Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane.
“I take a very strong stance on people that commit violent crimes, especially with the use of firearms," said Dewane.
He told us that his predecessor, former Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, followed the letter of the law in the case of the MSU shooter when she offered him a plea deal after his arrest in 2019 for carrying a concealed weapon.
“Based on his lack of criminal history, there was no mental health history at that time. A misdemeanor plea offer was extended to him, and he took that offer," Dewane said.
“So she followed the guidelines that she was supposed to?" I asked.
“It was not anything out of the ordinary that would have been offered to anybody else in the same or similar situation," he said.
Dewane says, since taking office in January, he has implemented policies to take a “strong stance” against violent crime, especially with the use of a firearm.
“Also, start charging people with what's called felony firearm, which is a mandatory two-year felony if you use or possess a firearm in the commission of a crime," he said.
We asked Dewane about the argument that if criminals don’t follow the law, why write more of them?
"That's a difficult response," he said. "You know, if somebody wants to commit a violent act, no gun laws are going to prevent that person from obtaining a firearm."
“But is there anything, in your professional opinion, that we can do to fix that?" I asked.
“Well, again, I think the laws that we have on the books to enforce the laws, and I think, again, the recent legislation that's proposed will help reduce violence in our community and make our community safer," he said. "But we do need to enforce the laws that are on the book, and hold people accountable for their actions.”
Dewane told us he fully supports the package of gun reform bills currently working their way through the Michigan Legislature. The bill package includes enacting universal background checks and implementing red flag and safe storage laws.
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