GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Public Schools made an urgent decision earlier this week: banning backpacks throughout the entire district.
Four guns have been found on students this school year alone.
A union representative with the Grand Rapids Education Association (GREA) tells FOX 17 the policy is better than nothing, and although they believe a better solution could be clear backpacks, the union recognizes that would be difficult to pull off with the end of the school year quickly approaching.
The other solution the union is waiting on is Michigan's safe storage law.
“The reality is that the Legislature has already passed a law that would give law enforcement a very powerful tool to deal with these kinds of incidents, where there would be accountability for parents when they don’t store their guns safely,” GREA union representative Tim Russ said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed safe storage laws on April 13, but they will not take effect until next year. That means the parents of two Grand Rapids elementary students found with guns won't face charges under that legislation.
Russ says Republicans are to blame.
“Republicans refused to vote for it to take immediate effect so we have to wait another year for that law to go into effect,” he said.
Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom has said he's confident there will be charges in both incidents. GRPD also has trigger locks available for free for people to pick up, any time the lobby is open.
But Russ believes the safe storage law could have a bigger impact.
"If law enforcement is in the house for some other related reason, and they see an unsecured gun today, they can't do anything about it. Because it's not a crime to have a gun laying out on your kitchen table. But if the law goes into effect, then there's a tool that we have to keep kids safe," Russ said.
Russ says, in the meantime, gun owners should lock up their guns or use a trigger lock.
"You can't expect a third grader to know, to have the impulse control not to play with a gun that's not secure," Russ said.
Russ says something is better than nothing and that sentiment applies to the current backpack ban, too.
“The backpack ban is not ideal but at the end of the day, they have to do whatever it takes to get the guns out of the schools,” Russ said.
There are two state senators whose districts cover Grand Rapids Public Schools: Democratic Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican Senator Mark Huizenga.
Senator Brinks voted for immediate effect on safe storage legislation. Senator Huizenga did not. FOX 17 reached out to Huizenga's office for comment on this story and is waiting on a response.
