Local state representative featured in ‘Daily Show’ segment

BERKLEY — A local state representative recently appeared on an episode of “The Daily Show” to discuss her work passing legislation on ghost guns.

On the March 6 episode of “The Daily Show,” the program aired a segment presented by correspondent Desi Lydic on a gun buyback program led by the Rev. Chris Yaw, of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield.

As part of the program, the guns purchased were collected by Michigan State Police and were supposed to be sent off to be destroyed. However, the organization collecting the guns was not destroying them but was salvaging and reselling parts online.

This reportedly would allow people purchasing the parts to create their own ghost guns.

As part of the segment, Lydic interviewed state Rep. Natalie Price, D-Berkley, on ghost guns and what she and other legislators have done, which includes the passage of multiple laws, Public Acts 265-267, that codify the complete destruction of firearms that are relinquished to the MSP.

“I was so grateful for the opportunity to have a nationwide audience to talk about Michigan and the changes that we made to help with this issue,” Price said. “I’m incredibly proud of the work that we did, and I was happy to share this as a model for other states, encouraging other states to make sure that the guns that they are sending off to be destroyed are actually getting destroyed.”

While the segment aired at the beginning of this month, Price’s interview actually was filmed in April 2024. The lapsed time since the interview made Price believe it would never air.

Price said her interview was two hours long, where she talked a great deal about the work herself and her colleagues did in the Michigan Legislature with the first Democratic trifecta in 40 years, with control of the governor’s office, state Senate and state House.

“Obviously, if they would have aired that, it wouldn’t have felt relevant, because we don’t have control of the House anymore,” she said. “So, I am grateful that they edited it in a way that didn’t make it sound like I didn’t understand the dynamics of our current state in Michigan.”

Price worked in part with former state Rep. Felicia Brabec, D-Pittsfield Township, to get the laws passed. Brabec said the exposure of a piece like the “Daily Show” segment helps cast more attention to the issue.

“When we have the opportunity to talk about something that has become an issue that might not be on folks’ radar, I think it can be helpful,” she said. “I was really proud of what we’re able to do in concert with MSP to address this problem for Michiganders.”

Brabec said she has heard from legislators in other states.

“I’ve talked with legislators in other states about how we did this, which also can make a difference.”

Over the course of 2024, Price worked to get House Bills 6144-6146, now PA 265-267, passed, which they did at the end of year during the lame duck session.

“The biggest change since I did that interview is that we put into statutes what I talked about in the interview — that we made the change procedurally with the department before the interview,” Price said. “But since that interview, (former state) Rep. Brabec and I introduced legislation to put it into statute so that it doesn’t matter who the governor is, who the department heads are, if there’s a change in the executive branch, it will take more than a rule change, it will take a law change to end this new law. … It helps to ensure that we as a state are not directly contributing to the ghost gun epidemic by those gun parts being able to be sold online without any background checks or any idea who’s getting them.”

“I think there’s still an issue,” Price continued. “We still need to work on legislation that will help prevent ghost guns.”