Michigan: Committees Hearing Long Gun Registration, Red Flag Gun Seizure & Storage Mandates

Today, starting at 3:00PM EST, the House Judiciary Committee will hear four gun control bill packages, three of which correspond with the bills in the Senate. On Thursday, starting at 12:00PM EST, the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hear three gun control bill packages they were unable to hear last week. These criminalize private transfers, require firearms be made unavailable for self-defense, allow Second Amendment rights to be suspended without due process, and expand areas where law-abiding citizens are left defenseless. Please contact committee members and ask them to OPPOSE these gun control schemes.

Senate Bills 76, 77, and 78 and House Bills 4138, 4142, and 4143 further criminalize private transfers of firearms by expanding Michigan’s handgun permit-to-purchase system to all firearms. This adds rifle and shotgun transfers to the state registry. It also removes the pistol permit-to-purchase exemption for transfers conducted by licensed firearm dealers, who conduct instant federal background checks, meaning prospective handgun purchasers must apply for, and receive, a permit prior to being able to go to a gun store to take possession of a handgun.

Senate Bills 79, 80, 81, and 82 and House Bills 4144, 4139, 4141, and 4140 impose a mandatory storage scheme for firearm owners, not taking into account an individual’s particular situation. Those not storing firearms in compliance face prison time up to 15 years and fines up to $7,500, for unauthorized access by minors. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court held that storage provisions that prevent a law-abiding American from having ready access to a firearm for self-defense are unconstitutional.

Senate Bills 83, 84, 85, and 86 and House Bills 4145, 4146, 4148, and 4147 allow the seizure of an individual’s firearms on baseless accusations, without a hearing or other opportunity for the evidence to be heard in court. They permit the government to seize firearms based on weak and nebulous standards of evidence.

A person subject to a suspension of a Constitutional right should be entitled to high evidentiary standards, an opportunity to be heard, and the right to face his or her accusers. Civil liberties advocates from across the political spectrum have expressed concerns about these “red flag” bills and how the procedure might lead to abuses because of insufficient due process protections in the bills.

House Bills 4149 and 4150 ban firearms from all buildings owned or leased by the state. These increase “gun-free zones” where law-abiding citizens are left defenseless against violent criminals who ignore such arbitrary boundaries..

Again, please contact committee members and ask them to OPPOSE these gun control schemes.