Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D-MI) Department of Health and Human Services released its Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force report on November 24, 2025, revealing 39 recommendations that Second Amendment advocates warn could fundamentally reshape gun ownership in the state. The timing proved deliberate, arriving just days before the four-year anniversary of the Oxford High School shooting.
Great Lakes Gun Rights didn’t mince words in its assessment. The organization warned that the report “reads like a blueprint for the gun control lobby’s wish list in 2026 and beyond,” featuring “outright gun bans, magazine bans, waiting periods and more.” Executive Director Brenden Boudreau characterized the document as the “policy foundation for the most sweeping anti-gun push Michigan has ever seen.”
Great Lakes Gun Rights Alert: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Department of Health and Human Services just released its Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force report — and it reads like a blueprint for the gun control lobby’s wish list in 2026 and beyond.
Outright gun bans,… pic.twitter.com/K7h9JXepSV
— National Association for Gun Rights (@gunrights) November 24, 2025
The task force, chaired by Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, proposes measures that would place Michigan alongside the nation’s most restrictive states. The report calls for prohibiting the sale, possession, manufacture, or transfer of what it terms “weapons of war,” joining 10 other states with similar bans. Large capacity magazines would face prohibition, along with automatic conversion devices, including bump stocks and Glock switches.
Current Michigan law allows residents to purchase pistols or rifles from private sellers at age 18. The task force recommends raising that threshold to 21 for all firearms, in line with 21 other states. Mandatory waiting periods would apply to every firearm purchase.
The report takes aim at what it labels a “concealed pistol license loophole” that permits CPL holders to bypass background checks and purchase permits. Task force members argue this creates pathways for ineligible buyers to acquire firearms. Gun rights advocates counter that CPL holders have already undergone extensive vetting to obtain their licenses.
Homemade firearms lacking serial numbers, commonly called ghost guns, would face prohibition under the recommendations. The task force also seeks to ban 3D printed untraceable weapons, joining 15 states that already regulate such firearms.
Michigan enacted red flag laws in 2023, creating Extreme Risk Protection Orders. The task force now pushes for standardized statewide implementation and mandates that law enforcement serve and enforce firearm bans. The report specifically recommends that “law enforcement agencies should be required by law to be the default responsible party for the service and relinquishment of firearms in ERPO cases.”
Additional recommendations include prohibiting firearms in government buildings, requiring gun dealer licensing and inspections at the state level, and allowing “legal accountability for the gun industry.” The task force also advocates for enhanced data collection systems tracking firearm-related incidents and creating a centralized state database for ERPO reporting.
Boudreau criticized the task force composition as fundamentally flawed, arguing it represented a “Democrat administration who’s shown to be hostile to the rights of Michiganders to keep and bear arms.” He contended that a gun rights advocate should have participated in the process.
The political landscape presents significant obstacles to implementation. Michigan operates under divided government, with Democrats controlling the state Senate while Republicans hold the state House under Speaker Matt Hall. In July 2025, Hall declared similar gun control measures “dead on arrival” in his chamber, including bump stock and ghost gun bans that had passed the Democratic Senate.
Great Lakes Gun Rights, working alongside Gun Owners of America, is currently pushing to repeal Michigan’s existing red flag law through bills introduced by Representative Jim DeSana. Those measures remain stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.
The report’s comprehensive scope extends beyond traditional legislative proposals. It calls for changes to internal and external policies at governmental and non-governmental agencies, alongside clarifications of current rules and legislation. This multi-pronged approach seeks to embed gun control measures throughout Michigan’s administrative apparatus, potentially creating restrictions that operate independently of legislative approval.
Second Amendment advocates face a task force blueprint that treats gun ownership not as a constitutional right requiring protection but as a public health threat demanding containment. The report’s 39 recommendations would require extensive legislative action, regulatory changes, and enforcement mechanisms that gun rights groups argue represent government overreach and infringement on fundamental liberties.
The document emphasizes standardized court reporting requirements and enhanced data collection systems, raising privacy concerns among those who worry such information could be weaponized against lawful gun owners. The push for comprehensive databases tracking firearm purchases, ERPO cases, and ownership patterns creates what critics describe as infrastructure for future confiscation efforts.
With Michigan’s divided legislature and Speaker Hall’s stated opposition, immediate passage appears unlikely. Yet the task force report establishes a detailed policy framework that gun control advocates can reference and pursue incrementally. The task force recommendations, backed by the governor’s administration and framed as public health necessities, establish what gun rights advocates characterize as the most comprehensive assault on Second Amendment freedoms in Michigan history.
In this case, partisan gridlock may prove to be useful in scuttling these proposals.
About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
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