Michigan Democrat Pushing Bill to Create ‘Do-Not-Sell’ List of Potential Gun Buyers

If a Democrat state senator in Michigan gets her way, residents may soon be able to place themselves on a “do-not-sell” list that would prevent them from legally purchasing a firearm from an FFL. 

Sen. Rosemary Bayer is pushing SB 539, which would actually create two “do-not-sell” lists maintained by the Michigan State Police; one list that would temporarily bar individuals from purchasing a firearm for six months after they sign up, and another that would prevent them from legally purchasing a gun unless they specifically asked to be removed. 

The Senate’s Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee heard testimony on SB 539 on Wednesday, including an appearance by University of Alabama law professor Frederick Vars.

Vars shared the story of Donna Nathan, a woman who died by suicide using a firearm she’d purchased the same day. Her death prompted her daughter to advocate for voluntary do-not-sell list laws, also known as Donna’s Law.

“Suicide claimed the lives of 1,530 Michigan residents in the most recent year for which data are available, 2023,” Vars said. “Fifty-six percent of those deaths involved a firearm. Gun suicides get less attention than mass shootings, but they outnumber all types of gun homicide by thousands of victims. Our veterans are among the hardest hit.”

Vars said the bill would not infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights, as nobody would be forced to participate or would have their firearms taken away. 

“This is simply not gun control. It’s self control,” Vars said.

The law has already been enacted in five states, Vars said: Washington, Virginia, Utah, Delaware and Colorado. 

Self-control generally doesn’t require putting yourself on a list so you aren’t able to purchase something. In fact, I’d argue that doing so demonstrates a profound lack of self-control. 

Vars has been advocating for these laws for quite some time now. Back in June I wrote a piece for our VIP members responding to Vars’s claims that the only reason groups like NRA are opposed to these measures is that they reduce gun sales. 

As I said back then, that contention doesn’t stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny, because we’re talking about a very small number of people who actually use these “do-not-sell” registries.. 

Three years ago I asked the Virginia State Police how many people had placed themselves on the “Do Not Sell” list. In August of 2022 there were just 24 names. 

I followed up with the VSP this week, and as of June 17, 2025 there are now a whopping 56 names on the list. I suppose Vars could tout the more than 100% increase in the use of Donna’s Law, but that’s still a ridiculously small number, and my guess is that many of those folks would never have bought a gun in the first place.  

There’s also evidence that even with Donna’s Law on the books, suicides have increased in Virginia. In fact, a report from the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services last December says suicide rates have been climbing since 1999. Donna’s Law has been in effect since July, 2021, but there’s no evidence whatsoever that it’s been effective in lowering the suicide rate. 

My main objection to Donna’s Law continues to be the fact that it’s a way for politicians to avoid taking more substantive (and expensive) steps to improve access to mental health care by focusing on guns; just like with “red flag” laws, which have no mental health component to them whatsoever. 

Michigan, like many other states, has a mental health care crisis. It can take two or three months to meet with a counselor, and even longer if someone wants or needs the services of a psychiatrist. 

The crisis is just as bad when it comes to acute care for those in crisis. As WMMT reported in July, “there should be an optimal number of 60 psychiatric beds per 100,000 people. Michigan only has about 19 beds per capita.” The impact of that shortage can be felt across the state, but it’s hitting the Upper Peninsula especially hard. 

The U.P. also only has two hospitals with inpatient mental health services available. UPHS-Marquette houses 37 adult psychiatric beds, and MyMichigan Medical Center-Sault has 20–that makes 57 beds in the U.P., or about two beds per capita for a population of 30,000.

Yet, UPHS-Marquette only operates 20, while MyMichigan manages 12, reducing the U.P.’s bed per capita by half.

Would Donna’s Law be the most egregious abuse of our right to keep and bear arms if it’s adopted by Michigan lawmakers? Absolutely not. Will it reduce suicide? There’s no evidence of that either, but it will most definitely allow lawmakers to avoid the more difficult problem of funding an adequate mental health system. 

Honestly,  if we’re going to talk about a gun-centric approach to harm reduction, Michigan lawmakers should be establishing grants for FFLs to offer voluntary off-site storage for gun owners in need rather than enacting a scheme for people to put themselves on a government list that blocks them from legally buying a gun. 

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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