Whitmer-created task force recommends ban on assault weapons in Michigan

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Nov 24, 2025

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LANSING, Mich. — A group that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created with the goal of making policy recommendations to save lives is urging state lawmakers to ban the possession of assault weapons and large capacity magazines.

Whitmer, a Democrat, formed the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in June 2024. The panel released its final recommendations Monday in a 50-page report, which called for a prohibition of the manufacture, sale, possession and transfer of assault-style weapons. The task force also said devices that convert semiautomatic guns into fully automatic firearms — known as Glock switches — should also be banned.

"With lives on the line, incremental change is not enough," the report said. "We must act with urgency and conviction to adopt policy solutions that will save lives and create a safer future for all Michiganders."

In addition to banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines, the task force also said the state should require waiting periods for all firearm purchases and mandate gun dealer licensing and inspections, among other policy changes. The report didn't provide details on what specific weapons the recommended ban would impact.

New restrictions on firearms would not likely win support in the Republican-controlled Michigan House, said state Rep. Jim DeSana, R-Carleton.

DeSana was among a group of House Republicans who participated in an event last month on the Capitol steps to reaffirm their "shared commitment to protecting and defending the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners across Michigan," according to a press release.

The approach to combating gun violence should be severely punishing those who commit crimes with guns, DeSana argued.

“Instead of being tough on crime, we go after law-abiding citizens," DeSana said of the task force's policy recommendations.

Eleven states have already banned the sale of assault weapons within their borders, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The center describes assault weapons as "typically a subset of semi-automatic firearms with features designed to enable shooters to repeatedly fire at large numbers of people quickly."

There have been bills introduced in past legislative sessions that attempted to ban the sale of assault weapons in Michigan, but they didn't advance. One unsuccessful proposal from the 2021-2022 term defined them as a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine and has a pistol grip, thumbhole stock, telescoping stock, or any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand and a folding or telescoping stock.

However, when Democrats had full control of the Legislature in 2023 and 2024, they didn't champion such a policy.

Democrats have also previously proposed limits on magazines. One past proposal would have prohibited the sale or possession of a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

In April 2023, Whitmer signed a series of bills aimed at curbing gun violence after a mass shooting on the campus of Michigan State University left three students dead and five severely injured. Those laws expanded background check requirements for firearm purchases, imposed storage standards for guns kept in homes where children are present and allowed a spouse, family member, a former spouse or a mental health professional to seek a court order to temporarily bar someone from owning or purchasing a firearm.

During a 2023 interview for WKAR's "Off The Record," Whitmer said she believed banning assault weapons would be the right thing to do, labeling them "weapons of war."

"I would be very open to having that dialogue," Whitmer said.

The task force's members, appointed by Whitmer, included Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical executive; Danielle Hagaman-Clark, criminal bureau chief in Attorney General Dana Nessel's office; and Kym Worthy, Wayne County's prosecutor.

The task force was housed within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A statement on the report from the department on Monday said of the assault weapons ban proposal, "These are weapons no civilian needs to own."

"They are often used in mass shootings. Prohibiting them will save lives," the statement said.

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