Committee adopts substitute for elective firearm-safety program bill, moves implementation to Sept. 1

Lede Representative Aaron Vanderwall, sponsor of House Bill 4285, presented an H-1 substitute that moves the bill’s implementation from an immediate June date to Sept. 1 and adds flexibility for the Department of Natural Resources to adjust class-hour requirements for the proposed firearm-safety elective in Michigan schools.

Nut graf The substitute was adopted by the House Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism and reported out as the H-1 substitute. Supporters said the date change and flexibility were intended to allow schools and the DNR time and latitude to implement curriculum changes; the committee recorded 14 yeas, 0 nays and 2 passes on the motion to adopt the substitute.

Body Representative Vanderwall described two changes in the H-1 substitute: moving the date of implementation to Sept. 1 and making course-hour requirements flexible so the DNR could change required hours without the statute locking in an exact number. “To move the date of implementation … to September 1,” Vanderwall said, and added that the substitute gives “the freedom and not lock us into exact hour requirements.”

After the clerk called the role, Chair Martin announced the substitute was adopted (14 yeas, 0 nays, 2 passes). Representative Vanderwall then moved to report House Bill 4285 as the H-1 substitute; the committee recorded 14 ayes, 0 nays and 2 passes on the report motion and the bill was reported out of committee as H-1.

Discussion vs. decision This hearing recorded formal committee action: adoption of the H-1 substitute and reporting the bill as H-1. The record shows no substantive amendments beyond the two changes described by the sponsor.

Ending The bill will proceed from committee as the H-1 substitute; committee members did not record additional conditions or directions at the time the clerk completed the role call.