Governor Whitmer Highlights Administration Priorities, Gun Control, during State of the State Address

Justin Tomei • January 26, 2023

Last night, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave her fifth state of the state address; her first since Democrats took the majority in both the State House of Representatives and the Senate and she won reelection.

In her speech, Gov. Whitmer laid out her legislative plan for 2023, including universal pre-k, tax breaks and other social agenda items. Unfortunately for hunters and anglers, wildlife and fisheries issues were not priorities for the speech. 

Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) staff attended the pre-speech legislative leader receptions and shared our members’ legislative priorities for this session with legislators, staff and other stakeholder groups.

The governor announced a desire to continue investment in renewable energy. Throughout the last four years, MUCC has, and will continue to, work to ensure that renewable energy projects do not come at the cost of wildlife, fisheries, public access or habitat. 

During the speech, Gov. Whitmer briefly mentioned her MI Healthy Climate Plan, and said that these priorities would be reflected in her coming executive budget.  

The Governor also laid out her plan to pursue new gun control laws in Michigan. Her request to the legislature includes:

  • “Extreme Risk Protection Orders,” a different term for red flag laws. Some versions of these laws enacted in other states would allow an individuals’ firearms to be confiscated without a chance at due process. MUCC wrote a blog on a proposed red flag legislation last year .
  • Universal background checks. Currently in Michigan, private buyers and sellers of long guns do not need to perform a background check to complete the sale. Until the text of this legislation is released, we do not know if this may include family and friends.
  • Safe storage laws. Without legislative language, we cannot assume the details. However, these bills would likely require an individual to keep firearms in their home in some sort of locking device, particularly to prevent child access. It may also include specific liability for legal gun owners who do not take action to prevent unauthorized access. 

MUCC’s policy on firearms and the second amendment is clear. Since the early 1960s, our members have passed numerous policy resolutions opposing any new gun control. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is written into the MUCC articles of incorporation. 

While we will oppose this legislation, it does not mean we will not try and neutralize the impact on hunting and recreational shooting as much as possible. With all of our collective efforts to recruit, retain and reactivate hunters, it is important that we not create new barriers to entry for law-abiding citizens. 

We remain committed to working with any legislator to make sure that the language in these bills do not interfere with the ability to hunt, shoot or prevent the ability of a child to hunt or shoot with a mentor.

A transcript from the Governor’s speech can be found HERE , and the video can be watched HERE . 

To ensure our natural resources remain protected and managed thoughtfully and our outdoor heritage defended, join Michigan United Conservation Clubs today: http://bit.ly/JoinMUCC .  

Recent Posts

May 2025 NRC Recap

By Justin Tomei • May 8, 2025
The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) met for their May meeting today at Lansing Community College West Campus. The commission voted to return antlered opportunities to the Independence and Liberty hunts at the May Natural Resources Commission meeting. The amendment to restore this opportunity passed after Commissioner Walters withdrew his amendment from April to only partially restore antlered opportunity during these hunts. MUCC testified for the complete restoration of antlered opportunity during these two hunts, per a member passed policy from our 2025 Annual Convention. The commission also voted on, and ultimately accepted, a proposal to allow archery antlerless take in the high snowfall zone in the Upper Peninsula. Additionally, the commission also chose to leave on the table and postpone indefinitely the order to reopen the illegally partially closed coyote season. This prevents the order from dying after today's meeting and makes it eligible for action at a later date. This amendment will remain postponed until the June meeting at the earliest.  MUCC has created the Coyote Coalition to assist in unifying the voice of conservationists in support of Proposal G. To join the Coyote Coalition, visit https://www.mucc.org/coyotecoalition . The commission did adopt proposed fall turkey regulations unanimously. The June commission meeting is Thursday, June 12 in Bay City. To ensure our natural resources remain protected and managed thoughtfully and our outdoor heritage defended, join Michigan United Conservation Clubs today: http://bit.ly/JoinMUCC .

On The Ground: Volunteers at the Annual Jack Pine Planting Day

By Olivia Triltsch • May 8, 2025
In total, volunteers improved about 6 acres of habitat and planted around 6,000 trees in this stand to continue regeneration.

On the Ground Junior: Spring Event Recap

By Katelyn Helsel • May 7, 2025
Our student volunteers have been hard at work improving wildlife habitat on public lands! MUCC’s On the Ground Junior (OTG Jr.) program, a subset of the On the Ground program, is a fully funded field trip program that brings grade-school classrooms into the outdoors to improve fish and wildlife habitat in their local communities. Through activities like native plantings, brush pile building, and invasive species removal, students gain hands-on experience with conservation and positively impact the world around them. Students also participate in educational activities like predator-prey tag to teach them about population dynamics and other natural resources concepts. So far this spring season, MUCC welcomed 69 students, teachers, and chaperones who participated in multiple OTG Jr projects with more on the way! In total, they improved over 12 acres of wildlife habitat. Read on for a recap of each OTG Jr project and see what all our awesome student volunteers have been up to. 
More Posts