TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Traverse City Area Public Schools sent out a notification to parents this month about the gun safety resolution it recently passed.

The Traverse City school board passed a resolution on Nov. 14 directing the superintendent “to at least annually communicate to parents the importance of safe firearm storage and other firearm safety and violence prevention measures to the district during November and at other appropriate times during the year.”

MORE NEWS: Detroit Schools to Spend $700M Fixing School Buildings

Michigan passed a law (Public Act 17 of 2023) that mandates that individuals keep unattended weapons unloaded and locked with a locking device or a locked container “if it is reasonably known that a minor is likely to be present on the premises.” The law went into effect Feb. 13. The penalties for the law depend on the severity of the incident. If a minor possesses a gun in a public place or shows it to another person in a reckless manner, then the gun owner could be charged with a misdemeanor with 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. If the minor shoots and kills someone, the gun owner could be charged with a felony and be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The NRA has opposed similar legislation in other states.

The NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action commented on gun safety laws and asked whether states have a “Prohibition on providing young children with gasoline and matches to play with. … Of course not. … The point is that not every type of conduct that is illegal is spelled out in individual detail in state criminal statutes. … NRA does not support top-down on-size-fits-all government mandates on how to store firearms.”