LANSING, Mich (WLNS) – An Upper Peninsula lawmaker wants to make it legal to carry a concealed weapon into gun-free zones including bars, sports arenas and churches.
Under current Michigan law you can not carry a concealed weapon into a hospital, A higher education facility, a gambling casino, a day care center, a sports arena and or entertainment center or into a school.
But Republican lawmaker Rep. Beau LaFave wants to change the law to permit concealed weapons in all those places.
He says “if you have a background check, you did the training, you have fingerprints on file with the FBI and you’ve got your permit, why in the world are we disarming people that are law abiding citizens?”
His legislation would also permit concealed weapons in a bar as long as you were not drinking but he does admit some drunk might use the weapon in a bar fight.
“I’m sure there’s going to be a bad actor out there who gets drunk and uses his pistol,” said Rep. LaFave. “In fact, that happens in Michigan all the time, but no law I’m going to introduce is going to stop that. So we need to make sure the law-abiding citizens have an ability to defend themselves wherever they are in public.”
He points to the mass shooting at an Orlando bar as a good reason for his proposal.
“I wish there was somebody there to stop that,” he said. “And if a person from Michigan had been carrying, I think there would have been return fire in the other direction.”
If this law was passed, however, any private entity would have the right to deny entrance to someone with a concealed weapon, if they so choose.
