Additionally - the Michigan Legislature should outlaw realistic looking to guns - and have them replaced with neon colored ones..
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Advocates for unrestricted gun rights are provoking a reckless fight with school districts; it’s one they should lose
Carrying Handguns Openly
(Photo: Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News)
Open carry advocates who are insisting on exercising their rights to carry pistols and rifles into schools, unconcealed, should put themselves in the place of principals who have the heavy responsibility of keeping a few hundred children safe from harm.
How would they respond if an adult walked through their doors, or even onto school grounds, with a visible gun? After Columbine and Sandy Hook and other places around the country where children have been slaughtered in mass shootings, would they simply shrug and assume the person is a harmless open carry advocate exercising his or her constitutional right?
Or would they mobilize, lock down the school, call the police and take whatever steps are necessary to protect the kids entrusted to their care? If it were their child, how would they want the school to respond?
And what about the police? When they arrive at the school, how do they ascertain whether the gun toter is a threat? Are they supposed to wait until a shot is fired? A misread of the situation can lead to an unnecessary tragedy.
These questions are becoming increasingly relevant in Michigan as open carry zealots get more determined to push their rights. Several school districts have raised concerns about guns being displayed in plain sight by school visitors, and the uncertainty and unease they create.
Common sense seems to have gone out the window. The open carry lobby is intent on provoking a confrontation — gunning for a fight, if you will. That’s a bad practice when firearms are involved.
Last week, a Genesee County judge ruled a local school district could not prevent a father from showing up to school with his gun on full display. The judge said state law gives him that right.
But as an attorney for another school district noted, state law also requires school officials to establish policies to ensure the “safety and protection of students.”
The two laws are in conflict. So the Legislature should provide clarity.
This newspaper has been consistent in its support of the Second Amendment, recognizing that many gun control proposals are little more than feel good measures that would not impact gun violence.
But all rights are subject to reasonable restrictions.
It is reasonable to restrict open carry rights in venues such as schools, theaters or other crowded public spaces where they are likely to create panic and lead to potentially dangerous confusion about the intent of the carrier.
Michigan has very liberal concealed carry laws. There is a low bar for obtaining a concealed pistol license. Those who feel the need to be constantly armed should take the minimal training required and apply for a CPL.
State lawmakers should heed the request of numerous school districts worried about the safety of their students and amend the law to make school buildings and grounds off-limit for the open carry of firearms.
DETROIT NEWS EDITORIAL ...SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
Letter to the Editor
Open Carry Laws, in Michigan, and other states, are a 'clear and present danger' to the general public and law enforcement officers..Persons who 'open carry' frighten the public and the law doesn't allow law enforcement officers to properly investigate that person, so neither the public nor the law enforcement officer knows the clear intent of that person - and wether he / she is a danger or not.
To allow 'open carry' advocates to carry a gun, rifle or other weapons into 'pistol free zones' where persons with a proper Concealed Weapons Permit cannot go, goes against all logic and concerns for the public, in this current state of anxiety over crime and terrorism.
God did not give US citizens the 'right to carry a gun' ....carrying a gun is NOT a God given right....it must be regulated for the protection of the public and law enforcement officers.
If you qualify for a CPL then you should abide by the laws and not be allowed to 'open carry'. CPL training must also be increased, to protect the licensee and the general public.
The Michigan legislature should, immediately, make reforming the 'Open Carry Laws' a priority, because of the current and past incidents that have children, teachers and the public fearful.I am one of the few, but growing law enforcement officers that have spoken out about 'open carry laws' and the need for restrictions on the purchase of handguns, military assault style weapons and toy guns.
We must make Michigan residents and all US citizens safer from gun violence and that will take standing up to the National Rifle Association. It will take legislators and congressmen courage - now is the time to add to those 'Profiles in Courage'.
Sgt David Malhalab, Detroit Police Retired
ps: Open Carry Laws in Michigan need to be reformed....A person should not be able to Open Carry guns / rifles / assault weapons anywhere that a Concealed Weapon Permit restricts their prescense, stadiums, schools, college campuses, government buildings, bars, restaurants etc... and Toy Guns should all be colored neon colors and NOT resemble real handguns / rifles / assault weapons for public safety and law enforcement safety. Contact your State Legislator and US House and US Senate representatives and tell them to make your streets safe.
Open-carry activist speaks out after school lockdown scare
Two Michigan gun advocates tested their rights to openly carry in the most controversial of places allowed by the state — public schools.
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