Democratic Michigan Attorney General candidate Eli Savit discussed his plan to fight gun violence during a roundtable talk in Detroit Friday.
Savit is the current Washtenaw County prosecutor. He said Michigan has made progress by passing safe gun storage and red flag laws to temporarily remove guns from people considered a threat to themselves or others.
But Savit said those laws work best when public awareness around them is strong.
“We’ve had folks going out into community, doing trainings at schools and for medical professionals and social workers about our new laws, about the intersection between gun violence and intimate partner violence, and that’s something that I’d like to continue doing on a statewide level as attorney general,” he told reporters.
Michigan issued over 400 extreme risk protection orders last year, according to state data.
Aside from red flag, background check, and safe storage laws, discussion participants gave praise to community violence interruption programs.
“We need to continue funding this work. It needs to be sustained funding because, over time, if you do CVI work for 10, 15 years, that’s when you see real change. Because now you’re seeing the kids that didn’t experience the trauma of witnessing gun violence,” Savit said.
Meanwhile, advocates also pushed for a crackdown on gun modifiers and so-called “ghost guns.”
Ghost guns can be 3D printed or made at home through a kit. They don’t have serial numbers, making them very hard to track.
State lawmakers have so far failed to ban those and the types of modifications that can let ordinary guns rapid fire. That’s despite bills to do so passing at least one legislative chamber during the current and past term.
Savit said he’ll take up the issue again if he’s elected in November.
“Ghost guns being untraceable makes it harder for law enforcement to solve crimes. Bump stocks and switches on guns that convert them into fully automatic weapons makes a shooting even more likely to be deadly. These are commonsense laws I think that we can pass here in Michigan,” Savit said.
Savit is running for Michigan Attorney General against Republican Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd.
Republicans have sought to paint Savit as soft on crime. Savit said he’s prosecuted many gun crimes during his time in office.
