"By the way, believe it or not if you are a CPL holder in Michigan you can legally open carry in any of the pistol free zones"
Seriously? How does that work? Can you cite a statute or something? Interesting concept.
On March 20 I sent an email to all the members of the Michigan House Judiciary committee that is supposed to be evaluating HB4348 and I got this nice response back from Rep. Kandrevas office (excerpt):
...As I am sure you are aware, HB 4348 and HB 4334 were both introduced last week and would revise the current concealed weapons laws. HB 4334 and HB 4348 were referred to the Judiciary Committee, of which Representative Kandrevas is a member. As of today, the legislation has not been introduced in committee.
This issue is one that the Representative will be conducting additional research on prior to making any final decision. He welcomes your input on this issue. Please know that the Representative and I have discussed your concerns and he will take them into consideration when he has the chance to vote on this issue both in Committee and in Session...
So there we have our status. Here is the letter I sent:
Representative:
I am a Michigan Resident of Grand Traverse County.
I urge you to support House Bill 4348 (2009), which would eliminate the gun-free zones from Michigan’s CCW / CPL law. These gun free zones are exactly the type of places where an armed citizen is needed. We have all heard of shootings and mass killings in schools and churches and other places where numerous people gather. It just doesn’t make sense to prohibit honest armed citizens from these places where:
1) The CPL holders who are carrying weapons are a very strong deterrent for criminals to even attempt a shooting incident in one of these public places.
2) In the event that a shooting spree is started by a evildoer, there is a strong likelihood that the bad guy would be neutralized by an armed citizen and lives will be saved.
Finally, if a deranged person is intent on mass killing, where would be the location of choice in Michigan? Of course they would go to a gun free zone where there are no police or armed citizens: churches, schools, sports stadiums etc.
I have three kids in high school/college. I would like to have them be more safe by knowing there may be others, including teachers, who may be armed CPL holders with the intention of protecting their students.
Please Support HB4348 to make Michigan a safer place.