Guns in Michigan churches? Bars? Schools? Maybe

LANSING — A packed hearing is expected at the Capitol today as state lawmakers take up the issue of guns and a bill that would allow concealed-pistol-license holders to carry weapons in places now off-limits, such as schools, churches and taverns.

Senate Bill 442 is up for debate less than two weeks after the nation's latest deadly mass shooting incident, at a community college in Oregon, and one week after a nationally publicized Michigan incident in which a CPL holder opened fire on suspected shoplifters fleeing a Home Depot in Auburn Hills. Nobody in the crowded parking lot was struck by bullets.

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Michigan proponents are selling the legislation as a compromise that would restrict the open carry of firearms, which is not currently prohibited by state or federal law at many public venues such as libraries, community colleges and universities. Opponents say the bill would move Michigan in the wrong direction at a time when gun rights need to be restricted, not expanded.

Virginia economist and gun rights activist John Lott is to testify before a Michigan Senate committee in support of the legislation that would allow CPL holders to carry their weapons in schools, churches, sports arenas, bars and other places where the concealed carrying of guns is now banned.

Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a Fox News columnist with a doctorate in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Free Press on Monday that restrictions on carrying weapons in places like Umpqua Community College in Oregon, where a gunman killed 10 people, including himself, and injured nine others Oct. 1, make such areas "magnets" for those who want to gain notoriety by killing as many innocent people as possible before committing suicide or being killed by police.

Lott, the author of eight books, including "More Guns, Less Crime" and "The Bias Against Guns," acknowledged that under Oregon state law, CPL holders were allowed to carry concealed weapons at Umpqua, just as CPL holders would be allowed to do at Michigan universities and community colleges if SB 442 becomes law. But, he said, college rules put significant restrictions on students and faculty, banning guns from buildings and sporting venues.

Gun-free and gun-restricted zones are targets for mass shooters and other criminals, but they limit the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their loved ones, he said.

Linda Brundage, executive director of the Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence in Lansing, said that's a "vacuous argument," and studies show most gun owners are open to reasonable requirements such as background checks and reasonable restrictions on where firearms can be carried.

"People exceed the speed limits," said Brundage, a psychologist who plans to testify today against the legislation before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "That doesn't mean we should have no speed limits."

Brundage noted that there were armed CPL holders on the Oregon campus at the time of the killings, but they reasonably "chose not to go to the site of the shooting." The Oregonian quoted one armed student, Army veteran John Parker, as saying college staff talked him out of going to the scene of the shooting from several buildings away, partly because law enforcement officers wouldn't know if he was a perpetrator.

The Auburn Hills Home Depot incident demonstrates the "kind of chaos" that could ensue if CPL holders are allowed to carry weapons in churches and schools, Brundage said.

Lott said he was aware of the Auburn Hills incident and said the shooter will lose her CPL license if the facts were as described in media reports.

"Nobody is saying that people don't make mistakes," but only a tiny fraction of CPL holders fire their weapons when they shouldn't, he said.

Lott is to testify in favor of legislation that would grant holders of CPLs a general exemption from the restrictions of gun-free zones, but ban the open carry of firearms in those areas.

Under state law, holders of CPLs are not allowed to carry concealed weapons at schools, except while dropping off or picking up children; at day care centers, sports arenas or stadiums; at entertainment facilities that seat 2,500 or more; at bars, churches, hospitals, casinos and dormitories or classrooms of colleges or universities.

State law doesn't prohibit the open carry of firearms at universities, community colleges or public libraries, and there has been a spate of recent court cases in which gun rights activists with concealed pistol licenses have challenged the authority of university, school and library officials to stop them from openly carrying guns in those areas.

Sen. Mike Green's bill would allow CPL holders to carry concealed weapons in those places, but ban open carry. Private owners would retain the right to ban weapons — concealed or openly carried — on their premises.

Green, R-Mayville, said in a news release it would "allow those who have a valid CPL to conceal carry in pistol-free zones instead of compelling them to openly carry in an effort to maintain their right of citizens to defend themselves, while also taking into consideration the sensitivities that exist in those areas."

Brundage described Green's bill as "a travesty."

"Michiganders must be allowed to go to schools, universities and community colleges, places of worship, seek medical attention, enjoy entertainment with friends and family knowing they are safe from gun violence," she said in a news release. "SB 442 will take away that security."

Gov. Rick Snyder in December 2012 vetoed similar legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons in churches, schools and day care centers. He took that action just days after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children.

Snyder said that incident was a factor in his decision-making, and that he wanted a broader review that included school emergency policies and the handling of mental health issues.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660, pegan@freepress.com, @paulegan4