The anti-gun train keeps rolling down the tracks in Michigan with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signing a gun-ban measure into law on Tuesday, only a day before Great Lakes State lawmakers debated several anti-gun measures in a House Committee.
The new law signed by Whitmer makes it illegal to possess a firearm at a voting location anywhere in the state—at least for lawful Michiganders.
Whitmer said the law will protect Michigan voters from gun violence when they head to the polls. Of course, it will do no such thing, as mass shooters are notorious for picking places to wreak havoc where gun-haters like Whitmer have disarmed the law-abiding public.
Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, one of the legislation’s authors, was all smiles at the signing. The legislation established yet another location where Michiganders won’t be able to protect themselves and their families from violent crime.
“Today, we are taking action to prevent voter intimidation and gun violence in our state,” Tsernoglou said. “By increasing security measures, such as this legislation, we are ensuring that every Michigander can cast their ballot free from intimidation and that every election worker can perform their duty without fear of violence. I am thrilled to see this legislation signed into law.”
Interestingly, neither Tsernoglou nor Whitmer can cite any instances where a voter carrying a firearm shot people at a polling place or where a concealed carrier used his or her firearm to intimidate someone into voting in a way other than what they had planned. Also, neither announced that more armed police would be posted at polling places, so they haven’t actually “increased security measures.”
The signing came one day before the scheduled debate over four anti-gun measures in the Michigan House Committee on Military, Veterans and Homeland Security. House Bills 6144, 6145 and 6146 require law enforcement agencies to destroy any firearm that has been confiscated or returned during a “gun buy-back.” Such a piece of feel-good legislation simply destroys working firearms that could be resold by police agencies, which are typically on a very tight budget.
House Bill 6134 removes the judge’s discretion to bar an individual who is subject to a protective order from possessing firearms and requires that person to surrender their firearms. The legislation could lead to more confiscations in situations where judges would have deemed it unnecessary for an individual subject to a protective order to give up their firearms.
Lastly, House Bill 6135 mandates the surrender of firearms to law enforcement or an FFL for compliance with the recent expansion of misdemeanor prohibiting categories passed and signed into law last year. According to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, this mandate has the potential to create a Fifth Amendment violation against an individual’s right against self-incrimination.
