GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After two school shootings in Michigan in a 15-month span, there was an increased push by state Democrats for gun reform.
Following the tragedy at Oxford High School in November 2021, Republicans controlled the legislature and rejected those efforts.
However, in the wake of the massacre at MSU, with Democrats now in power, similar bills were signed into law.
On Tuesday, those laws go into effect.
They deal with Universal Background Checks, Safe Storage Requirements, Extreme Risk Protection Orders (Red Flag Laws) and Limits on Domestic Abusers.
READ MORE: What you need to know about Michigan's new gun laws
State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle knew something had to be done to address the increase in gun violence, but not everyone believes these changes will make the difference.
FOX 17 met with House Republican Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus (R) and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D) to learn more about the political divide on this pressing issue.
"I voted against all of the bills in all of the packages," Posthumus said. "First of all, let me start by saying we all agree that there's an issue. We all agree that there is an issue with gun violence here in Michigan and across the country. Senator Brinks and I both agree on that. The question is, 'What are the solutions?'”
"When I face difficult votes, I have to look at it from the lens of two things," Posthumus continued. "One, does it address the root cause of the issue? And two, what are the foundational principles that we're standing on? And to me, it didn't pass the muster on either of those two issues."
"What was it missing, I guess, in your mind?" FOX 17 asked.
"On the first one, does it does it address the root cause of the issue? I don't personally believe metal and plastic is the root cause of the issue. It's a mental health issue, coupled with societal challenges that we need to face.”
Contrary to Republicans, Brinks and other Democrats do not believe these laws infringe on the rights of responsible gun owners.
Watch the full, unedited panel below.
"I think that responsible gun owners understand this doesn't infringe on their right to own a weapon," she told FOX 17. "It does say, 'We expect you to be responsible with that,' and it sets a norm. It gives law enforcement tools, it gives physicians tools to help prevent harm that could come if that weapon is to accidentally fall into someone else's hands or be stolen. Those gun locks, and any efforts to keep weapons stored safely, can prevent a world of hurt and all of these tragic things.”
Background checks and safe storage requirements are widely referred to as pieces of 'common sense gun reform.' However, Posthumus said Republicans don't view it that way.
"First, let's talk about the safe storage," he said. "You know, I own guns. Every single one of my guns is safely stored in a locked safe. And I'm a proponent of that. The question is enforceability.”
He added, "while some of these policies, as a general topic, had wide margins of support, the extreme nature of them don’t.”
So the question becomes, how can lawmakers balance protecting people's rights while also protecting the public from gun violence?
Brinks said, "you have to think about — what is our responsibility to members of the general public? When somebody is exhibiting dangerous behaviors, the people around them have a right to expect to be able to be safe. And we should have tools in place to prevent them, as well as any other person in their environment who may or may not know them, from harm.”
FOX 17 asked Posthumus if there was any sort of legislation specifically relating to guns that Republicans might support.
"I think we need to focus on on the root cause," he reiterated. "The root cause is not metal and plastic. The root cause is the mental health issue and the societal issues like the standard of living and cost of living. Things of that nature."
FOX asked if that meant Republicans will never focus on guns and only the mental health aspect.
"That's where I would focus," he said.
Since that's the case, FOX 17 asked Brinks if Democrats could do more to meet Republicans halfway on their efforts to address mental health.
“You name it — in the entire budget, you will see strategic investments in things like mental health, in things like medical care, in things like housing, in things like education, higher education, early childhood all the way through higher education, so that we can help people have better lives, and we can reduce some of those negative impacts from not having their needs met," she said.
“It also, by the way, addresses all kinds of reasons for negative impacts on mental health that we see in schools," Brinks continued.
"We're seeing child size coffins. And it's not unusual, right? It's no longer unusual. It simply is not a viable answer to say, 'We can't do anything.' It's not a viable answer to say, 'We just have to arm more people and put more guns in the situation.' More guns is not going to be the solution to gun violence," she said.
