KALAMAZOO, MI - Laws that allow a man to openly carry a handgun into a special needs school were repeatedly questioned and jeered at a special Monday night meeting of parents, staff and others at the school.

"Kids with a toy gun can get kicked out of school but an adult with a (real) gun doesn't?" one man asked.

"It's not appropriate," said parent Michelle Miller. "My family hunts. My daughter carries a concealed weapon. There's a time and a place for it (carrying guns) and school is not the time and place."

They were among about 90 people who attended a gathering at which the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency tried to explain protocols it is using to manage the ongoing visits of a man who has been bringing a gun to a once-a-week music program at Kalamazoo RESA's West Campus facility.

The 4606 Croyden Ave. facility was placed on lockdown during each of the last two Thursday mornings while that man participated in a 45-minute class attended by his young daughter.

Parents, some of whom were upset to hear about a man carrying a gun in the school, were invited to Monday night's meeting to learn more about the situation, to learn about the laws involving openly carrying a weapon, and to ask questions.

Kalamazoo RESA's West Campus provides classes and services for more than 200 individuals, from young adults with development issues (ages 18 to 26 years old) to preschoolers in five Head Start classes.

Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting said there are two Michigan statues that, in a nutshell, make it legal for anyone with a valid concealed pistol license to openly carry that gun in a Michigan school.

The first is MCL 750.237a, which makes it a misdemeanor to possess a weapon at schools, which are designated as weapon-free zones. But the law does not apply to peace officers, security personnel hired by the school district, those with permission from the school's administration, or people with a CPL (Concealed Pistol License).

The second statute is MLC 28.425o. It prohibits CPL holders from carrying concealed weapons in nine designated pistol-free zones, including schools.

"The interplay of these statutes has created a situation that allows a person with a CPL to open carry at a school," Getting said.

But one man said, "I refuse to accept that answer."

Arguing that it is too easy to say people in Kalamazoo can't change state laws to help the local community, he said, "We can do something about it."

Getting said local units of government cannot simply override state laws, however. He and KRESA Superintendent Dave Campbell said change has to come through the Michigan Legislature.

"This isn't unique," said Tom Lambert, president of open carry advocacy group Michigan Open Carry Inc.

He said people open-carry handguns "every single school day all across the state. And we don't hear about it in the news because, in the end, it's not the big deal that people make it out to be."

Along with two Kalamazoo Pubic Safety officers, the gathering included two men openly carrying holstered handguns. One was Lambert. The other was Mike Warren, a Kalamazoo Township man who stirred controversy in 2014 when he brought a holstered handgun to a children's event at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Warren did not speak and declined requests to be interviewed.

Parent David Wilson became irate when a man in the audience said he's sure the parents of those who lost their lives in the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut wish there was someone with a weapon between them and danger.

Wilson argued that there's no way to tell if such a person would have been in position to help. And he shouted, "This is not the way we live in a civilized society."

When a gun is not being used to fend off a bad guy, Wilson said, "My question is, what is it doing all of the other moments of the day?"

He said he has a 2-year-old daughter in the music appreciation class that is attended by the man with the gun. He said he and his wife are evaluating whether the benefits of the Thursday morning class are outweighed by what they see as the inherent danger of a classmate's dad with a gun.

Another parent said, "The elephant in the room that no one's talked about yet is Kalamazoo has lost its innocence with the mass shootings."

He was among three people who said pushing for open carry gun rights while the community is still reeling from the Feb. 20 shooting of eight people - six fatally - is inconsiderate and "The person that's bringing the weapon to school is inconsiderate, wasteful of our resources and the legislators that passed these laws are totally irresponsible."

Others said it is also terrible that the issue is being pressed at a facility that provides services to some of the most vulnerable young people.

Miller, who has a 21-year-old daughter in KRESA's young adults program, which teaches life skills to the developmentally disabled, said her daughter was wide-eyed and worried about danger when she learned why her mother was heading to the Monday night meeting.

"These are the kind of kids that don't necessarily get (understand) a political agenda or why people would want to be bringing a gun into school," Miller said.

Parent Tony Dennis asked why the rights of one man with a gun supersede the school systems' requirement to educate young people.

"If parents leave their child home (to avoid a scary environment) then therefore that is infringing on that," he said. "So the law is in conflict. You have to educate our children in a safe environment. There is a conflict of interest there."

Asked whether it is a sustainable plan for the school to continue to lock down the facility every time the man with the gun arrives - which has included staff members monitoring doors and having a police officer and a school administrator escort the individual - Superintendent Campbell said it is the best plan the district has for the time being. And the program that is attracting the parent to school ends in about three weeks.

He said KRESA has not thus far incurred any additional costs as the result of its safety protocols.

"I would argue that bringing a firearm into a school building creates a hostile environment," one woman said. "I think that it infringes on all the other students' rights."

She drew applause when she said, "I don't think our kids should be made pawns of a political agreement."

Lambert said that for a lot of people, open carry "is to get people to leave us alone," a preemption to becoming a victim of violence and to let bad guys know "I'm not a soft option."

That was a response to questions after the 90-minute meeting, which ended with many people ignoring final statements made by Lambert and walking out of the meeting. One or two people fussed at him for what they said was his political agenda.

Carrying a sidearm is a matter of an individual's safety and the safety of his or her family, Lambert said.

"Just because I cross onto school grounds, that doesn't change," he said. "So why should it change in the schools? I'm around kids out there. I'm around kids in here. I'm around kids at home. I'm around kids in my neighborhood. I'm around kids in malls. I'm around kids in theaters. I'm around kids all the other places."

He said he appreciated the dialogue during the early part of the meeting but felt it deteriorated. He said he could have brought 30 or 40 open-carry advocates to support the points he tried to make, but did not because he wanted to avoid a circus-like atmosphere.

Campbell said, "I thought we had a good open exchange of ideas on a super-difficult issue. The diversity of opinions are very strong and deeply seated. I do think that everybody learned something and that's healthy. I feel very good about that."

Where to go from here?

Campbell said he thinks state legislators need to make changes so that schools remain focused on education.

"This is not a healthy situation for public education to be in," he said. "I'm concerned that schools may be seeing more instances of people openly carrying weapons and it's not healthy for a school climate."

Michigan Rep. Jon Hoadley said, "We have an ability to just change the laws."

At Monday's meeting, the Kalamazoo Democrat urged people to support passage of bills that he and state Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, introduced in February of 2015. The bills would prohibit concealed pistol license holders from openly carrying firearms at schools, libraries, churches, theaters, sports arenas, courts, hospitals, day-care centers, and some places that serve liquor.

Hoadley said House Bill 4261, which would make those places gun-free zones and House Bill 4262, which would provide sentencing guidelines for the proposed legislation, have been stalled in committee.

MLive writer Al Jones may be contacted at ajones5@mlive.com. Follow me on Twitter at ajones5_al.