Readers sound off on the Michigan Legislature's votes to allow gun owners with expanded conceal carry licenses to bring guns to schools, day cares and churches.
As the frequency and severity of mass shootings continue to rise in our country, I can no longer stay silent. I own several guns used for both hunting and recreational shooting. Michigan state hunting laws limit the magazine capacity tosix shots for semi-automatic rifles/shotguns. These magazine limits do not detract from either the hunting or recreational shooting experience and most likely enhance the sportsmanship and safety of both.
Today, magazine clips are available on the market that provide up to 100 rounds. These high capacity magazines are illegal for hunting and unnecessary for recreational purposes. In the harshest terms, these are weapons of mass destruction. While available to all law abiding citizens, in the wrong hands, under the wrong circ*mstances, guns with large magazines can create the deadliest of weapons.
Absent of sporting purpose, why do high capacity magazines exist? Our legislators are so fearful of the NRA lobby that they are powerless to act, even in the face of continuous mass shootings carried out with large magazine guns. The Second Amendment was created in the age of the musket, not a 50-round semi-automatic rifle with a bump stock. What will it take for our society to understand that the Second Amendment can still exist without high capacity magazines?
Jim Webber
Novi
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Don't give kids access to guns
The consideration and passing of Michigan Senate bills 584 and 586 are completely unacceptable. The idea of having such weapons around developing children spells disaster. After the numerous back-to-back attacks recently these newly brought up bills are idiotic. Bringing guns to K-12 school buildings are the exact opposite of what actions needs to be taken when discussing firearms in the hands of civilians at this time.
Since 2013, there have been more than 200 school shootings in America. These new bills propose nothing but an addition to the already heightening numbers. There’s not one logical explanation for allowing, at best, mid-developed minds to carry weapons, especially at school where petty altercations can lead to multiple murders if given the tools to act in such a way. Our constitution protects your right to carry a weapon, but this is a step too far.
Taya Johnson
Detroit
Keep guns far away from schools
When you look at the news now, it is impossible to not see an article involving some kind of shooting, or gun-related incident. So, why would it be a good idea to allow the concealed carry of weapons in schools? Violence is already spreading by itself, and does not need our help. Allowing guns to be carried in schools is just asking for trouble. Regardless of what the intent is behind them, guns are literally loaded weapons, and one wrong move could result in a tragic event.
The focus right now should be on keeping guns as far away from schools as possible. By allowing guns in schools, you’d be allowing easier access to deadly weapons. There is no guarantee that the person with the weapon is stable, or that students couldn't gain access to it. If someone snapped, they’d already have the weapon in their hands. The world is already full enough of shootings without us egging them on by allowing the weapons to be in the schools.
Addie Dempsey
Pontiac
Voters can do a better job picking leaders
In a column last week, Nancy Kaffer wrote:"Our GOP-led Legislature should start listening to their constituents, and stop producing short-sighted policy voters don't want and that the state doesn't need." I say: Constituents should start listening to their legislators, and stop voting for short-sighted GOP legislators who defy what voters want and produce policies that the state doesn't need.
One of the great political mysteries is the propensity of the American electorate to vote against their own interests. If legislators wont' listen to their voters, they are even less likely to listen to journalists. Much of the problem is low-information voters with the attention span of a gnat. Therefore, when endorsem*nt time comes around for the next election, the Free Press should provide a list of stupid votes below the names of each incumbent and stupid proposals under the name of each opponent. How about a numerical score card for each legislator showing how many good and bad bills they supported and again for those that they passed? The NRA and other right wing lobbies provide scores. Where is a score for the public interests?
Dennis L. Green
Farmington Hills
Insurance reaction shows what gun bill will do
State SenateRepublicans voted down an amendment to their gun bill that indicated they know full well what's about to happen in Michigan and why. The amendment would allow schools or day care centers or colleges to receive money from the general fund to pay for the increase in insurance premiums they will face, that increase having happened in other states where Republicans allowed guns in places that were previously gun-free. And we know that guns do indeed make places unsafe simply by this proven reaction from the insurance industry. The gun industry has been successful with ads convincing many consumers that the product being marketed makes the buyer safer, but the insurance industry goes by reality, not by advertising. The fact premiums increase when guns arrive on the scene ought to wise us up. Who will pay this increase? We will. This is a tax hike hidden in a gun bill.
Rebecca Hammond
Ferndale
