Michigan Senate Democrats on Thursday amended the pending gun control legislation.
The original bill would have severely limited where concealed pistols could be carried, but fierce blowback from gun rights advocates prompted changes.
Senate bills 857 and 858 spell out prohibitions against carrying concealed weapons in the Michigan State Capitol, Anderson House Office Building, and Binsfeld Senate Office Building in Lansing, as their legislative descriptions suggest.
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But SB 858 also eliminated a section of law that provides exemptions for concealed carry license holders that allow them to possess firearms in thousands of other places, like churches, sports arenas, grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants and banks.
The bills, which mirror House legislation introduced in February 2023, were filed in May and remained without movement in the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety until this week.
When Great Lakes Gun Rights, a nonprofit nonpartisan advocacy group, realized the bills were up for a committee hearing on Thursday, executive director Brenden Boudreau sounded the alarm.
“Senate Democrats are holding hearings on bills to GUT the right of Concealed Pistol License Holders on Thursday November 14th!” the group posed to X. “Senate Bills 857 and 858 would make it illegal for CPL holders to carry in THOUSANDS of places where they can carry under current law,” they added.
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“This isn’t about gun safety,” the post read. “This isn’t about going after criminals. This is about making self-defense virtually illegal in Michigan.”
The post, along with texts and emails to GLGR members, resulted in a deluge of calls and emails to lawmakers, and Senate Democrats responded in the media, alleging the broader removal of CPL exemptions was unintentional.
Rose Jones, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Winne Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, told The Detroit News the legislation was meant to focus solely on keeping firearms out of legislative buildings.
“There will be changes made to the bill to make that clear,” she said.
SB 857 sponsor Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, told The News that eliminating the CPL exemptions was simply a drafting error.
Boudreau is skeptical it was all just a big mistake.
“It’s been a drafting error for six months,” he told The Midwesterner. “Even if it wasn’t intentional, it’s incompetence at best.”
Others have come to a similar conclusion.
“This should have jumped out at them immediately,” Tom Lambert, legislative director for Michigan Open Carry, told The News.
Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbit, of Porter Township, described the bills as a “last ditch effort by lame duck Democrats to essentially ban concealed carry across the state.”
“It’s despicable, and Senate Republicans will fight it every step of the way,” he vowed.
The Michigan Capitol Commission last year voted to ban weapons inside the capitol, and visitors are currently vetted by Michigan State Police. Democrats have also banned staff from carrying firearms in the Anderson House Office Building and Binsfeld Senate Office Building, though the prohibition does not extend to the general public, Boudreau said.
On Thursday, members of the Senate Committee on Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety approved both bills, after amending SB 858 to preserve exemptions for CPL license holders to carry firearms in places besides the three legislative buildings.
That change is good, Boudreau said, but Great Lakes Gun Rights and others are “still opposed.”
“We don’t want to the gun ban codified … because we believe it leaves people defenseless in Lansing, one of Michigan’s most violent cities.”
The legislation now moves to the Senate floor, although it could be weeks before a vote.
The upper chamber’s next scheduled session day is Nov. 26.
Democrats lost their current government trifecta last week, when voters restored Republican control of the state House.
The new Republican House majority will be seated in January.