LANSING (WWJ) -- Guns are still banned at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, but only for most people.
The Detroit Free Press reports that after Republican lawmakers objected to proposed rules that would block them from carrying weapons at the Capitol, the Michigan Capitol Commission Wednesday revised its policy to allow an exception for legislators who have concealed carry permits to bring their weapons to work.
Weapons-detecting devices will remain at the entrances to the building, the Commission decided.
The changes to the ban, which took effect in its current form back in January, take effect immediately.
The ban does not apply to law enforcement officers.
This move comes after much debate since a pandemic-era incident in which a group of armed protestors gathered in the Senate gallery, upset about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "stay-home" orders and other COVID-related restrictions.
Among Democrats pushing for the ban was Sen. Dayna Polehanki of Livonia who made headlines in April of 2020 when she tweeted a photo of demonstrators carrying long guns into the public gallery, shouting at lawmakers on the chamber floor. "Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them," Polehanki wrote.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who has long supported the gun ban, called the situation "a ticking time bomb."
"...It's not really a matter of if there will be a serious incident, it's when," Nessel said, in an interview with WWJ's Jon Hewett. "And when that incident does occur, the Capitol Commission will have blood on their hands."
While those against the gun ban have suggested it's unconstitutional, and/or that the commission lacks the authority to impose such a ban, they have been unable to prove those assertions.
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