Joe Biden has been out of office for over 300 days now, but his anti-gun legacy lingers, including in the form of a playbook left behind for anti-liberty governors (hello, Governor Gretchen Whitmer!) to consult. NRA-ILA warned of the damaging directives as they unfolded then, and their pernicious effects are still in motion. Ahead of a massively consequential election year for Michigan in 2026, when all statewide offices are up for a vote, and where the balance of power hangs on a handful of seats, Governor Whitmer has turned to the next chapter of the gun-grab guide following her creation of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force last year. This next installment is the one on gun control that is – like a proctological exam – “good for your health.”
Last month, the Task Force released its latest report via the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). While there is nothing especially novel to report on from the predictable contents, this ongoing effort to classify gun ownership as a public health “crisis” in need of management by government bureaucrats presents a time-honored “cure” to Second Amendment rights.
The 50-page report ran the gamut with a main emphasis being on the usual attacks aimed at law-abiding citizens and not criminals: ban so-called assault weapons; institute waiting periods on firearm purchases; raise the minimum age to purchase firearms; ban “large capacity” magazines; ban privately made firearms; prevent concealed carry permit holders from using their licenses as permits to purchase firearms and instead require intentionally redundant bureaucracy and expense; expand red flag laws, and many other formulaic asks. Funny how supposedly evidenced-based public health interventions look exactly like old-fashioned gun control.
Indeed, missing from the report was the correlation of how exactly these unconstitutional policies align with MDHHS’ stated mission and strategic priorities that the department “provides services and administers programs to empower the health, safety, and prosperity of the residents of the state of Michigan.”
The vehicle for this report being the MDHHS is a crucial part of the national firearm prohibition movement’s off-the-shelf blueprint. NRA-ILA has long been warning of the “public health” approach to gun control at the federal level, noting anti-gun states would follow suit. The directive starts with declaring gun violence (and, inherent in that, mere lawful firearm ownership) a public health crisis. Next, in order to address the crisis, a task force of “experts” is created followed soon by reports and recommendations fancifully packaged for consumption to bolster gun control policies as supposedly aligned with “the science” of politically disinterested “health researchers.”
Weaponizing health care “experts” in an effort to more easily fool the citizenry into rights-adverse “support” in hopes of convincing them this public health crisis needs to be managed by government is critically dangerous. While we know it, predict it, anticipate it, identify it, we cannot let up on fighting it.
Thankfully, at the federal level, President Trump immediately recognized the danger of this scheme and ordered the removal of former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s anti-gun tract, Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America, from the official Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website shortly after taking office. He also reduced the workforce and tightened up the grant funding that were contributing to these efforts.
Unfortunately, the states with anti-gun governors still stay the course because ultimately, the facts, the research, the data, the relevance, and the efficacy of their gun control prescriptions have never, nor will ever, steer the agenda. The end game of prohibition is predetermined. Every incremental step just conditions the public to support the next one. Precious few of the report’s suggestions addressed due process, self-defense, crime control, or mental health solutions but instead focused most recommendations squarely on law-abiding citizens. To reach the end game, they are the ones who must be persuaded (or bamboozled or steamrolled, as the case may be).
This anti-gun wish list is also more than carefully curated documents made to fortify gun control policies. It is also a campaign policy primer for anti-gun candidates for 2026. The Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force was created in June of 2024 by order from Governor Whitmer and a legislative package soon followed that enacted various gun control measures such as red flag laws, mandatory storage, and universal background checks. That was never going to be enough, and the next session’s infringements won’t be, either. Too many election year losses in Michigan led to the anti-gun power set up in Lansing, and while Republicans won back the House by a slim margin to hold the line in the legislature this session, the fight will be even more pitched in 2026.
This latest report is a wake-up call for the 2026 state elections, not just for Michiganders but for all citizens. Coordinated attacks using taxpayer funded resources and positions of power on Second Amendment rights is a concern for all time. The voice and vote of Second Amendment supporters are the only way to stop the next Task Force and these ominous playbooks.
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