Moms Demand Misdemeanors for Moms in Michigan

Recently the Moms Demand Action - MI Facebook page thanked, with the hashtag ‪#‎BackgroundChecksSaveLives‬, state Representative Jim Townsend for introducing legislation that would require a license and a background check in order to purchase, carry, possess or transport any firearm.

The problem is, as is common with "well meaning" freedom opponents, they just don't know what they are talking about, and of course that leads to very real consequences for otherwise good law-abiding people.

In this case, in the spectacular ironic fashion normally indicative of MDA, the most likely law-abiding group to be victimized by this legislation also happens to share the title of mom.

You may remember Rep. Townsend as one of only two legislators in the entire 148 member Michigan Legislature who voted against a noncontroversial common sense bill that defined "Brandish" to make it clear that a holstered gun is not brandishing. Or, perhaps that time he said "tommy guns shooting up people on every block" in the 1930's was to blame for gun control passed in Michigan in the 1920's. Yeah, that guy.

I guess it's really no surprise that someone who doesn't know what they are doing would write a bill that would make it a 90 day misdemeanor for a widow to possess or transport her late husband's hunting rifle, even for sale, without first obtaining a license to do so. Or, for a stay-at-home mom to retrieve her husband's shotgun out of storage to defend her children against a violent home invasion. Even the mere act of moving a firearm during the course of housecleaning would be punishable with fines and jail time under the proposed legislation.

As unfortunate as these potential consequences are, are they really unintended? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Rep. Townsend and MDA have anything against stay-at-home moms or widows. What I'm saying is these oppressive controllers simply don't care about the collateral damage. They are so dead set on their agenda that they don’t care who they harm.

This call for licensing and checking isn't about ensuring lawful access to guns, or safety, it's about preventing gun ownership entirely. The hoplophobes in our Legislature know that the front door to gun control is closed in Michigan, so now they are trying the back door. If you can't ban guns directly, then the next best thing is making it as risky as possible for you, or your spouse, to own a gun.

Ask yourself, does putting otherwise law-abiding moms, or dads, in jail do anything to promote safety or stop violence? How would you feel if a child died because the threat of prosecution kept a parent from protecting their children? So much for #SaveLives.