Lansing, MI — Governor Gretchen Whitmer didn’t like that protestors calling for the state to reopen were able to bring guns into the people’s building. So, while the state is still at a total standstill, they’ve found a way for the state commission to meet to decide whether they’ll allow citizens to carry guns in the capital building in the future.
Nothing like fiddling while Rome burns, right?
Their Attorney General Backs Whitmer
Meanwhile, Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel has said that a state commission does have authority to prohibit firearms in the Capitol.
Elaborating, Nessel said that authority is “consistent with the current state of the law regarding firearms in public buildings.”
“The Capitol is a place for free expression of thought and debate, but the freedom of civil discourse does not imply the right to threaten others with harm or violence.”
Nessel continued, “In our current environment and as the chief law enforcement officer in this state, I am gravely concerned for the safety of both our legislative members and the public at large. With exceptions to those tasked with protecting our Capitol, the only way to assure that a violent episode does not occur is to act in concert with the many other state legislatures around the nation that have banned firearms in their Capitol facilities. The employees at our Capitol and members of the public who visit are entitled to all the same protections as one would have at a courthouse and many other public venues. Public safety demands no less, and a lawmaker’s desire to speak freely without fear of violence requires action be taken.”
The Commission is going to meet today to determine what the future will look like for gun owners who want to come to the Capital building armed.
Members of the Commission include the the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, two individuals jointly appointed by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House, and two individuals appointed by the governor. This committee is responsible for the Capital building and grounds.
What A Peach!
Nessel’s legal argument is basically that the committee has the authority to ensure the ‘safety of the visiting public’ and that of the people working in the Capital building. Further, Nessell argues that, “The concept of ‘open carry’ in Michigan law does not provide the unfettered right to bring firearms into any public space.”
Essentially, she’s saying that because some locations are able to preempt regulations — such as schools — that would normally allow guns to be carried, then the Capital building can be one of those locations.
Sauce For the Goose
Interestingly, if seeing weapons and body armor is so terrifying to legislators and staff as to make it impossible for them to work….how are citizens supposed to feel when they walk into the same building and see armed police with body armor on?
The left only hates armed people who don’t take orders from them. Whether or not you think that reopening a state merits a protest or not, whether or not you would take your guns to the capital or not, this event is worth watching for gun owners.
It’s a transition of power. Power is leaving the people and being given to an appointed — not elected — committee.
This is exactly the sort of thing many opponents of the excessive quarantines have said would happen: once the State gets the power to do something, they’ll never give it back. If they can decree certain businesses close now, they can decree it later.
If they can decree that the sight of a weapon is a threat and make it illegal now, they can do it later.