'Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be forced to give up their rights': New legislation calls for all valid CPL holders to carry inside state Capitol

LANSING (WWJ) - While current Michigan legislators who have concealed carry permits are allowed to bring their weapons to work, citizens at the Capitol building in Lansing cannot.

But that may change after new legislation was introduced on Thursday.

State Sen. Michele Hoitenga proposed the new bill which would allow anyone who possesses a valid concealed pistol license (CPL) to carry while inside the Michigan Capitol.

“Law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be forced to give up their rights when visiting their state Capitol, nor should they be treated any differently from the lawmakers who they elected to represent them in Lansing,” said Hoitenga, R-Manton. “All CPL holders receive a background check and state-licensed instruction; they should maintain their constitutionally protected right to carry in self-defense, even while inside the Capitol building. Democrats care more about pandering to their radical base than actual public safety.”

Hoitenga’s Senate Bill 468 comes almost a month after the Michigan State Capitol Commission voted to adopt new security procedures to ban guns within the Capitol and install weapons detection systems at all entrances to the building.

As the current rules state, only lawmakers who have valid CPLs are expect from the ban.

The ban does not apply to law enforcement officers.

The back-and-forth amendments 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.