By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Working well into the night Wednesday, House Democrats in Michigan narrowly passed legislation expanding the scope of gun control to require background checks and registration for all firearms purchases, not just handguns.
According to the Detroit News, two other proposals related to “red flag” actions and a requirement for so-called “safe storage” remain in committee.
House Bill 4138 passed along party lines on a 56-53 vote. Republicans cautioned that the legislation would not have prevented the recent triple-slaying at Michigan State University, but only burden law-abiding citizens. State Rep. Neil Friske described the 24-page bill as confusing and punitive, the Detroit News noted.
The newspaper said the bill includes an exemption for firearms used for hunting if the user is under the age of 21.
The Detroit Free Press confirmed in its report that “Democrats had planned to introduce gun safety legislation before the mass shooting at Michigan State University Feb. 13 which killed three students and injured five others, but lawmakers said the events at Michigan State spurred the introduction of a series of bills addressing background checks, safe storage laws and extreme risk protection orders, sometimes called ‘red flag’ laws.”
This underscores the suspicion that Democrats used the MSU event to push an agenda already in place.
As in Washington State, Democrats in Lansing are using their majority to press gun laws while they have the momentum to do it. Gun control is being pushed this year by several Democrat-controlled legislatures.
The Detroit News reported that HB 1438 “exempts from background checks any long guns and rifles currently in possession, ‘grandfathering’ those firearms in, and exempts long guns and rifles obtained through a transfer among family members.”
But critics are concerned about the expanded registration “for all firearms purchases.” Gun registration has long been a major concern among many Second Amendment advocates who believe it is done for only two ultimate purposes, to either “tax them or take them.”
Proponents of the gun control bill say the proposed mandates amount to “common sense.” Rep Jaime Churches, a Wyandotte Democrat, was quoted by the Detroit News arguing that the bill’s language is aimed at keeping guns out of criminal hands, and represents a simple “inconvenience” to law-abiding gun owners.
