News articles by Michigan Open Carry, Inc. that may be of interest to its membership, open carriers, or gun owners. Ideas for news articles can be submitted to our news editor, Dan Griffin.
We were honors to be greeted at the State Side Deli and Resturant in Howell where the owner personally greeted us and prepared our delicious food. G.R. Dnius (front and kneeling in Photo), the event's organizer, commented as follows:
According to OnTheIssues.org, in 2010 then gubernatorial candidate Rick Snyder's campaign website contained the following in regards to whether or not he would support the 2nd Amendment and the rights of gun owners:
"In one word: absolutely. I actually own three guns myself. I have a 12 gauge shotgun and two .22 rifles that I use for target shooting. I believe the 2nd amendment also protects the right of citizens to have a gun in their home to protect their family and property.I also support the rights of gun owners to responsibly carry their gun, as long as they have attained the legal permit. While I'm not an avid hunter, I support the industry and believe it plays an important role in our economy and quality of life. It also can have a valuable environmental conservation impact and I would work to streamline the processes so that hunters get better customer service from the state and local governments. We have a long tradition in our state of supporting gun rights and the hunting industry in Michigan and I would continue to support that tradition as Governor."
Now there are two big problems with the highlighted portion. The first problem is that rights and permits are mutually exclusive. A right, by definition, is something that belongs fundamentally to everyone, as opposed to a permit which gives you the ability to do something you couldn't otherwise do. The second problem is that when Gov. Snyder was given the opportunity to backup his words he folded.
I wish it weren't true, I really do, but here's the thing: the reason we still have gun free zones in this State is Gov. Rick Snyder.
Let's review the political landscape in Michigan. Michigan's legislature is divided into two chambers: A senate and a house.
The Michigan Senate is made up of 38 members (26 Republicans and 12 Democrats - As of this writing). The Michigan Senate has had this composition since January 1, 2011 and this composition will remain in place until the end of December this year (2014).
If you don’t know who Moms Demand Action is, I will give you a quick update. MDA was founded after the Sandy Hook shooting, by a professional communications exec Shannon Watts and is now funded by the billionaire nanny-statist Michael Bloomberg. The group is a national organization with chapters in many states, including Michigan. This group is comprised of both men and women with stated good intentions of reducing “gun violence.”
Read here for more information on our K-12 Lawsuit
Michigan Open Carry, Inc (MOC) is in the beginning phases of preparing a lawsuit against a K-12 school district. Since we don't plan to be filing the lawsuit for approximately 2 more months, we will be keeping the details very sparse for now. Please don't ask us for more information. We will not provide anything beyond what is below at this time.
Michigan Open Carry, Inc. is proud to partner with Representative Joel Johnson and Representative Brandon Dillon to promote HB 5091 and HB 5092. On Febuary 27, 2014 Phillip Hofmeister (President) and Tom Lambert (Assistant Legislative Director) testified in favor of these bills which would create a definition of Brandishing in Michigan statute that could be understood and observed by law abiding citizens as well as police.