Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Gun locks are seen displayed at Northwoods Sporting Good in Hancock. Though always provided at the store, locks or other locked weapon storage will be required when minors are present as part of a slate of gun legislation taking effect in Michigan Tuesday.

HANCOCK — New gun laws took effect in Michigan Tuesday, a year to the day of the Michigan State University shooting that killed three people. 

The package of bills taking effect includes a secure storage law, which requires people to keep unattended weapons unloaded and secured with a locking device or stored in a locked container if a minor will be around. The regulations also require background checks for all gun purchases and red flag laws, or extreme protection orders. 

The red flag laws will allow law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from a person deemed by the court to present a threat to themselves or others. The process would be similar to the existing system for a personal protection order. 

Baraga County Undersheriff Dave Miller said he did not anticipate more requests being filed as a result, but thought the ones being filed would have additional conditions. 

“People file PPOs and we enter them into the system,” he said. “That number won’t increase, it’ll just be a different outcome, as far as people who have to give up their guns, or surrender their guns. We aren’t quite sure how that’s going to work.”

While background checks were previously only required for people buying pistols, the new law extends the requirements to rifles and shotguns. People must also have a firearms license to make any gun purchase, including at gun shows. An additional license is not required for people who already have a concealed pistol license. 

Miller was not sure if the new law would result in more CPL applications. However, he did foresee more work for local departments because of the increased number of background checks, as well as the additional permit requests. 

At Northwoods Sporting Goods in Hancock, most of the change in background checks will be noticeable on their end, rather than the buyers, said Ben Miller. 

“For the most part, the process is unchanged,” he said. “The only real change is that we must turn it in, as opposed to the customer doing it themselves.”

“We file the registration for the pistol, so the customers don’t have to do anything outside of the store where they buy a pistol from us,” said owner Rick Freeman, Jr. “We bring those pistol registration forms to the cop shop instead of the customer…It’s not easier, but it’s less steps for the customer.”

The store does not have storage units big enough for long guns, though it does carry some smaller ones. It already provided gun locks, in accordance with existing state law.

Northwoods sells trigger locks, and also carries free cable locks, which prevent the gun from firing. Those are obtained through the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office and other groups working with the gun safety group Project ChildSafe.

“When we run out, we put out the ones we get for free from the sheriff’s department and be literally like, ‘take one,'” Freeman said.