MICHIGAN (WXMI) — Tens of thousands of firearm dealers across the country will now be required to run background checks on buyers.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) finalized a new rule, which mandates people who sell guns online, by mail, or at flea markets and firearm shows verify their buyers can legally purchase guns.
It stems from bipartisan legislation that Congress passed in 2022 that subjected more individuals to the requirement.
Federal officials expect the rule to face legal challenges but believe it will hold up in court.
Several gun rights groups in West Michigan, including the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, did not respond to FOX 17’s interview requests for this story.
“It is a rare person who can say that they don't know someone who has been shot,” said Dr. April Zeoli, the policy core director of the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan.
Zeoli says gun violence impacts nearly every American but hopes the new rule changes that.
“It's the number one cause of death for children and teens in the United States and in the state of Michigan,” said Zeoli. “Firearm homicide is the number one cause of death for young Black men and it's in the top five causes of death for younger Americans below age 44.”
She added, “We expect that when people have to do this, have to go through that background check, it [will] make people less likely to try to buy a gun by lying.”
According to Zeoli, research indicates universal background checks reduce the number of suicides and homicides that involve guns.
“If someone is restricted from having a gun because they're under a personal protection order — maybe they used a gun during the domestic violence and the judge says, ‘You can't have a gun right now’ — if they can just go and buy a gun at a gun show or online without a background check, then they're not really being prevented, and that person that they've victimized, their intimate partner, isn't any safer,” said Zeoli.
A study from ATF found from 2017 to 2021, 54 percent of illegally trafficked firearms came from unlicensed dealers.
The DOJ estimates the rule would impact more than 20,000 unlicensed dealers.
“If somebody is purchasing or securing a firearm without a background check in Indiana, for example, they can easily bring that gun into Michigan,” said state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak).
In an interview with FOX 17, McMorrow said the new rule brings other states in line with Michigan.
Last year, the state Legislature passed its own universal background check law, which went into effect in February. Its impact remains unknown, but McMorrow hopes it eventually creates safer communities.
“Our laws can only be so effective if there’s still a patchwork around the country,” said McMorrow. “What I am encouraged by is that the DOJ and Biden administration is doing everything they can.”
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