(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Before Michigan joined a growing number of “shall issue” states on July 1, 2001, making it easier for residents to get concealed pistol permits, opponents feared and argued it would lead to an increase in gunplay, violence and death. It hasn’t. “Even legislators who voted against it have told me they […]
Michigan gun laws
Posted inMichigan Government
Snyder, senator at odds over guns in schools
Ron Mead doesn’t think teachers – or anyone else, other than police – should be allowed to carry guns in schools. “To me, that’s just inviting trouble,” he said. “We want schools to be something comforting and inviting.” PHYSICAL REMINDER: Ron Mead, shown in a 1998 photo directing traffic at Chelsea High, is now retired. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Chelsea school shooter: Gun control won’t help
CARSON CITY — Stephen Leith avoids newspapers, television and anything else that might tell him what’s going on outside these prison walls, anything that might remind him of why he’s here. Sometimes he can’t avoid it, as when his cellmate has a TV on. That’s how he heard about the mass shootings of 20 little […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Mental health policy is wild card in gun safety
(courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) On his way home to Chicago, University of Michigan student Kevin Heisinger stepped off Indian Trails bus no. 4560 and walked into the restroom of a Kalamazoo bus station. There he was beaten to death by a paranoid schizophrenic man who was not taking his medication. Heisinger’s death […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Gun shop finds itself a frequent target – of theft
TARGETED BY THIEVES: Felix Pytlinske’s gun shop has been robbed at least five times in recent years, most recently in January. Police say that guns taken in previous thefts at his shop have been recovered at crime scenes. (Bridge photo/Pat Shellenbarger) When Felix Pytlinske opened his West Olive shop the morning of Jan. 12, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan counties ranked for per-capita handgun permits
WHERE THE HANDGUN (PERMITS) ARE: On a per-capita basis, handgun permits are more common in Michigan’s northern and rural counties than in urban counties such as Wayne, Ingham and Kent. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Guns are becoming more uncommon in households across the United States. The most recent national survey found the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Violence hasn’t disturbed guns’ role in state culture
Rodrick Dantzler fired the first shot before 2:30 p.m. on a Thursday — July 7, 2011. Minutes later, his mother phoned Grand Rapids police to report her son had called and told her he had killed his wife. Had that been his only crime, it would have been just one of more than 500 firearm […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Gun bill questions go unanswered
Why? Why would a young man enter a school and kill 20 children and the adults who sought to protect them? What, if anything, can be done to stop America’s recurring nightmare with public massacres at the hands of crazed shooters. Those are nearly universal questions across America now. Questions made even more timely in Michigan with […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Snyder veto sought on gun-zone changes
School, religious and hospital leaders plan to continue their opposition to pending changes to Michigan’s concealed weapon law this week by asking Gov. Rick Snyder to veto Senate Bill 59. That bill, passed in the last hours of the recent “lame-duck” legislative session, would allow certified concealed weapon permit holders to carry weapons into schools […]