New Gun Laws 2024

Extreme Risk Protection Orders Additional legislation signed by Whitmer is designed to help prevent a person in distress or crisis from using a firearm to inflict harm—namely by allowing judges to sign court orders to have guns temporarily confiscated from those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. Specifically, the laws create a legal mechanism in which dating partners, spouses, family members, roommates, cops, health care providers, and mental health professionals can petition a court to have a person’s firearms temporarily removed from their possession . Under the law, judges will be able to enter emergency, short-term orders to remove guns after receiving evidence that the person poses an immediate risk. Afterwards, they must hold a hearing to review the evidence for and against issuing a longer-term firearm removal order. According to a legislative analysis, the risk protection orders are not designed to take firearms away from gun owners who aren’t dangerous or in distress. They are also designed to only have a limited duration that can only be extended by a judge after another evidentiary hearing is held. Domestic Violence Laws Legislation that aims to strengthen protections for survivors of domestic violence is also set to take effect in February after being signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. The new laws bar those convicted of domestic violence from buying, owning, or transporting a gun for a period of eight years after their sentence . It’s an expansion to the current law, which only bars those convicted of felonies from possessing or buying a gun.