Should legal gun owners be allowed to freely carry anywhere in their state, including dorm rooms and school campuses?
In the wake of mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas that left dozens of people dead or injured, a Michigan Senate committee approved bills Tuesday that will allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons in gun-free zones such as schools, churches, day care centers, bars, dorms, and stadiums.
The shooting at a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, which left 26 people dead and 20 more injured, makes state Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, a Republican from West Olive, Mich., more certain that now is the time to take up the gun legislation.
“Some have said it’s insensitive to bring up these issues now, but I feel quite the opposite,” he told a standing-room-only crowd in the Senate Government Operations Committee. “The recent events will allow us to look at how we can deter those who want to do harm. And responsible, well-trained, licensed concealed-pistol holders can be one of those deterrents.”
The bills taken up in the Senate Government Operations Committee passed on a party-line vote with Republicans supporting the three-bill package and Democrats opposing it. The bills also would close the open-carry loophole, effectively barring gun owners from openly carrying their weapons in gun-free zones.
He gained support from gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association and the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners.
“The idea of having the ability to arm a well-qualified, well-trained individual is tantamount to setting out a scenario where we no longer set up a sheep for the wolf,” said Robert Rudowski of the gun owners group.
Gun-free zones should be called “mass murderer empowerment zones,” said Steve Dulan, spokesman for the gun owners group.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, vetoed similar legislation in 2012, just four days after a horrific shooting in Newtown, Conn., when a heavily armed man muscled his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first-graders and six adults.
Snyder said that bill had a fatal loophole that didn’t allow for those institutions to opt out of the new legislation and prohibit weapons from their buildings. His spokeswoman, Anna Heaton, said Tuesday that Snyder hasn’t seen the latest version of the concealed- carry bills and hadn’t taken a position on them.
Meekhof said he has talked with Snyder about the new legislation and that he’s “not necessarily” on board with it. – USA Today
“Never-Trumper” Governor Rick Snyder (R), who some Republicans believe leans to the left on more than one important issue, like vetoing legislation that would require MI voters to have a valid ID in order to vote, is currently facing some serious allegations related to the Flint water crisis.
WXYZ – Harvey Hollins, the man Gov. Snyder appointed to handle the Flint Water Crisis, recently testified that he told the governor about increasing lead in Flint water months before Snyder told Congress he learned about it.
The testimony came during the preliminary hearing for Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyons, who is facing involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office charges for his alleged role in the water crisis.
Hollins testified that he told Snyder in July 2015 and August 2015 that there were concerns about increased lead levels in Flint’s water.
During congressional testimony in March 2016, Snyder testified that he didn’t even learn about the dangerous levels of lead in Flint’s water system until October 2015.
“I told the governor that we’re hearing a lot more folks complaining about lead, copper, and TTHM (total trihalomethanes),” Hollins testified.
We’d love to hear what you think about legal gun owners being able to carry anywhere in their state?
