The following is from MICHIGAN COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERS
“Promoting safe use and ownership of firearms througheducation, litigation, and legislation”Since 1996
MCRGO Weekly E’News – Answers to FAQ’s
Michigan Legislative Update, February 6, 2011
Senate Bill 58 was introduced by Senator Green early last year and co-sponsored by Senators Kowall, Brandenburg, Colbeck, Casperson, Emmons, Jansen, Moolenaar and Robertson. It is currently sitting with the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would eliminate the so-called “Pistol Free Zones” for CPL (Concealed Pistol License) holders. As readers of this column may recall, I often refer to the “Pistol Free Zones” as “Mass Murderer Empowerment Zones.” This is because the list includes several places where mass killings have occurred. As any thinking person knows, the only effect of any “gun free zone” that is not secured by metal detectors, and staffed by armed guards, is to simply disarm law-abiding citizens who comply with the law, thereby making them vulnerable to criminals, who do not.
The current list of places where law-abiding CPL holders may not carry is found in MCL 28.425o, and printed in abbreviated form on the back of your CPL. There are various groups of people who may disregard the list. They can be described as various types of law enforcement officers, retired law enforcement officers, judges and retired judges, and licensed private investigators. There are various proposals pending in the legislature to add to this list of people with special self-defense privileges that go beyond the self-defense that is allowed to ordinary citizens.
SB 58 would simply eliminate the list of so-called “Pistol Free Zones” altogether. We CPL holders have demonstrated over a period of more than 10 years, that we can be trusted to act prudently and safely in the overwhelming majority of situations. To say that we may not carry in certain places simply by legislative fiat, is to say that our lives are simply not important if we choose to go to certain places such as hospitals and adoption agencies. As I tell my law students: “Do not try to apply common sense to gun law, you run the risk of a stroke.” The current scheme is, by nature, arbitrary and capricious. As responsible gun owners, we are bound to follow the law, but we are also free to urge changes that make it more logical and fair.
If you would like to urge that the Senate Judiciary Committee take up SB 58 and recommend it to the full Senate, you could call the offices of the committee members. They are:
Sen. Rick Jones (Chairman) (Grand Ledge) 517-373-3447
Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (Kalamazoo Co., Paw Paw and Antwerp Twp) 517-373-0793
Sen. Tory Rocca (Clinton Twp., Roseville, Sterling Heights, Utica) 517-373-7315
It is well known that phone calls that are polite and succinct are given more weight than those that are not.
Steve Dulan (www.StevenWDulan.com) is a member of the Board of Directors of the MCRGO and the MCRGO Foundation, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the MCRGO Foundation. He is an attorney in private practice in East Lansing and Adjunct Professor of firearms law at The Thomas M. Cooley Law School. as well as an Endowment Member of the NRA.
