Michigan: Senate Judiciary Committee Unanimously Approves to Lift a State Gun Ban

[dcselby1]

[FONT=&quot]On Tuesday, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 610 that would lift Michigan’s ban on the private ownership of short-barreled rifles and shotguns. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are strictly regulated under the federal National Firearms Act. Therefore, by repealing this longstanding state gun ban, Michigan law would conform with federal law, and align Michigan with more than forty other states that already allow their resident to possess these firearms. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are subject to restrictive regulations including requiring their buyers to undergo a background investigation, pay a $200 tax and register these firearms with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] ​ [FONT=&quot]The NRA applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee voting to repeal this gun ban. Since SB 610 is now eligible for consideration on the state Senate floor, please Link Removed your state Senator in SUPPORT of Senate Bill 610.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT] ​ ​

 

[Itstjs]

Wow, I was unaware of the restrictions until this came on. I didnt see it on the state website, but I will send a letter to my state reps and senators to support the lift.
Thanks for the post.

 

[wolf_fire]

I hope you guys get this ban lifted. A SB shotgun is one heck of a home defense tool.

:yes4::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[topgun47]

I hope you guys get this ban lifted. A SB shotgun is one heck of a home defense tool.

:yes4::biggrin::biggrin:

My Mossberg 12ga. with the 18 1/2" barrel is short enough for me. Any shorter than that, and the barrel will be shorter than the shell tube. And yes, it makes a fine home defense weapon.

I would write letters to my senators, but it is useless. They are as anti-gun, liberal as a person can get. I'm sick of reading the condescending form letter that they will send me in return, while totally ignoring what I wrote.

 

[Itstjs]

Funny thing is, while alot of other states are working harder to add weapons bans and restrictions, Michigan, since Governor Snyder has taken office has worked hard on lifting bans and allowing law abiding citizens to enjoy their weapon freedoms.

 

[GlassWolf]

[FONT="]On Tuesday, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved [URL="http://www.nramedia.org/t/2076577/4379310/30080/9/"]Senate Bill 610[/URL] that would lift Michigan’s ban on the private ownership of short-barreled rifles and shotguns. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are strictly regulated under the federal National Firearms Act. Therefore, by repealing this longstanding state gun ban, Michigan law would conform with federal law, and align Michigan with more than forty other states that already allow their resident to possess these firearms. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns are subject to restrictive regulations including requiring their buyers to undergo a background investigation, pay a $200 tax and register these firearms with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT] [/LEFT] [LEFT][FONT="]The NRA applauds the Senate Judiciary Committee voting to repeal this gun ban. Since SB 610 is now eligible for consideration on the state Senate floor, please Link Removed your state Senator in SUPPORT of Senate Bill 610.[/FONT][FONT="][/FONT] ​ ​

You know, by black letter law, the NFA doesn't apply to anything buy posession of said restricted weapons while on land that is exclusively owne by, or ceded to the Federal government? In other words, unless you're on a Military base, or in Washington DC, or the like, it doesn't actually apply to most people at all. Unfortunarely, fighting this in court is pretty much impossible because the courts will simply refuse to hear the case, since they are already bought and paid for by the government itself.

 

[Golden Eagle]

Funny thing is, while alot of other states are working harder to add weapons bans and restrictions, Michigan, since Governor Snyder has taken office has worked hard on lifting bans and allowing law abiding citizens to enjoy their weapon freedoms.

Can you give just one example of Snyder doing this?

 

[GlassWolf]

Start at 15 minutes in, to get to the bit about the NFA.

 

[ezkl2230]

Funny thing is, while alot of other states are working harder to add weapons bans and restrictions, Michigan, since Governor Snyder has taken office has worked hard on lifting bans and allowing law abiding citizens to enjoy their weapon freedoms.

Um… that has been largely in spite of Snyder taking office. Snyder tried his dead level best to outlaw OC using changes he required to the wording of SB59 that would have prohibited OC in exchange for his promise to sign a so-called expansion to the right to carry concealed in a gun free zone (by the time the extra classes, additional rounds, and other requirements were in place, it would have been too expensive for many to get the exemption), and he also vetoed HB5225, which would have required that CPLs must be issued or denied within 45 days (with the penalty of forfeiting state funds), done away with pistol registries entirely, and defaulted to the NICS background check system instead of Michigan's far more limited and inefficient LEIN system. After promising to sign both pieces of legislation, he used Newtown as an excuse to veto them. He publicly stated in an interview the following day that he sees no value in the carry of a firearm in any public place, and is in favor of keeping gun free zones in place for schools and churches, AND expanding them to public buildings/meetings (he expressly vetoed SB59 because the bill did not contain a provision for schools to opt out of concealed carry expansion and retain their gun free zone status if they wanted to do so). Yes, he did sign the law permitting ownership of tasers/stun guns, but only after getting the CPL requirement added.

Yes, this bill has come out of committee, but we are now into November. Realistically, this means that, according to the house calendar, we have between 12 - 15 DAYS left in which to get this through both the senate and the house, and to do it with enough votes to override the east side of the state and a probable Snyder veto because this legislation doesn't fit into his agenda. There are only 2 weeks of three days each of sessions scheduled for November; there are three 3 day weeks scheduled for December, but the entire week of Dec. 17-19 is tentative. The only chance this bill has to be passed yet this year is if there is a flood of pressure from constituents demanding that the legislation be fast tracked, otherwise, we start all over again January 1.

Long story short, if Snyder vetoed HB5225, which would have required Michigan to default to NICS, then I don't see him signing this legislation that does away with Michigan's own ban on short barreled firearms in favor of NFA.

Snyder is NOT a friend of the Second Amendment.

 

[Itstjs]

Um… that has been largely in spite of Snyder taking office. Snyder tried his dead level best to outlaw OC using changes he required to the wording of SB59 that would have prohibited OC in exchange for his promise to sign a so-called expansion to the right to carry concealed in a gun free zone (by the time the extra classes, additional rounds, and other requirements were in place, it would have been too expensive for many to get the exemption), and he also vetoed HB5225, which would have required that CPLs must be issued or denied within 45 days (with the penalty of forfeiting state funds), done away with pistol registries entirely, and defaulted to the NICS background check system instead of Michigan's far more limited and inefficient LEIN system. After promising to sign both pieces of legislation, he used Newtown as an excuse to veto them. He publicly stated in an interview the following day that he sees no value in the carry of a firearm in any public place, and is in favor of keeping gun free zones in place for schools and churches, AND expanding them to public buildings/meetings (he expressly vetoed SB59 because the bill did not contain a provision for schools to opt out of concealed carry expansion and retain their gun free zone status if they wanted to do so). Yes, he did sign the law permitting ownership of tasers/stun guns, but only after getting the CPL requirement added.

Yes, this bill has come out of committee, but we are now into November. Realistically, this means that, according to the house calendar, we have between 12 - 15 DAYS left in which to get this through both the senate and the house, and to do it with enough votes to override the east side of the state and a probable Snyder veto because this legislation doesn't fit into his agenda. There are only 2 weeks of three days each of sessions scheduled for November; there are three 3 day weeks scheduled for December, but the entire week of Dec. 17-19 is tentative. The only chance this bill has to be passed yet this year is if there is a flood of pressure from constituents demanding that the legislation be fast tracked, otherwise, we start all over again January 1.

Long story short, if Snyder vetoed HB5225, which would have required Michigan to default to NICS, then I don't see him signing this legislation that does away with Michigan's own ban on short barreled firearms in favor of NFA.

Snyder is NOT a friend of the Second Amendment.

Hm, since you put it that way, kinda seems youre right. I was unaware of the issues prior, and only heard he vetoed HB5225 because the language wasnt correct, furthermore, I wasnt aware at the time 5225 was to be voted on that it was basically outlawing OC, which I like to do if the clothes Im wearing makes CC uncomfortable. Thanks for the heads up, Ill have to watch things a little more closely from here on out. Seems I was a bit mislead somewhere in the past to believe he was a friend of 2A

 

[ezkl2230]

Hm, since you put it that way, kinda seems youre right. I was unaware of the issues prior, and only heard he vetoed HB5225 because the language wasnt correct, furthermore, I wasnt aware at the time 5225 was to be voted on that it was basically outlawing OC, which I like to do if the clothes Im wearing makes CC uncomfortable. Thanks for the heads up, Ill have to watch things a little more closely from here on out. Seems I was a bit mislead somewhere in the past to believe he was a friend of 2A

Don't feel too badly. Snyder had a lot of people fooled. I had the advantage of being on staff with a Rep from SW MI at the time as a legislative researcher. These two pieces of legislation were projects on which I had input. Before Snyder began making his demands, we had two vey nicely crafted, very pro Second Amendment bills.
Snyder waited until the very last minute to get his wording inserted. Most of us did not realize how the wording had changed until after he vetoed the bills. I did some post-veto analysis and discovered how close Snyder had come to passing serious gun control - and using pro-Second Amendment legislators to do it.

 

[ezkl2230]

You know, by black letter law, the NFA doesn't apply to anything buy posession of said restricted weapons while on land that is exclusively owne by, or ceded to the Federal government? In other words, unless you're on a Military base, or in Washington DC, or the like, it doesn't actually apply to most people at all. Unfortunarely, fighting this in court is pretty much impossible because the courts will simply refuse to hear the case, since they are already bought and paid for by the government itself.

Here is a link to the text of the NFA, Title 26 USC. Please show us where this exclusionary language appears anywhere in this Title. And yes, I listened to the tortured interpretation (it was torture trying to even follow his reasoning) given by Champion, and his interpretation does nothing to disprove the authority of congress to enact these kinds of laws. The only references to Title 18 contained in Title 26 refer to weapons definitions, not applicability of the Title. The NFA was the first real effort of the government to keep certain weapons out of the hands of criminals (specifically) by making them too expensive to own through taxation.

http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-appendix-a.pdf

And BTW, the NFA is a really good example of how long the idea that criminals get their weapons through legal avenues has been around, and how imposing a tax on the law abiding will somehow deter criminals from getting their hands on the weapons they want. The NFA was first passed in 1938, and they're STILL trying to get gun control laws dialed in to stop bad guys. 75 years have passed, and they still haven't learned.

 

[ezkl2230]

SB 610 Passed by Senate, Sent to House...

The Michigan Senate overwhelmingly approved SB 610 on 11/14/13 with a 36-2 vote. It has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

Guys, we will need to see this pass with a similar overwhelming, veto-proof vote in the House. Snyder is not our friend, and I would expect him to try to veto this legislation.

Time to burn up the lines to Lansing. We have, realistically, NO TIME to get this out of committee and on to the floor of the House for a vote. Gov. Snyder has 14 days in which to sign or veto a bill after it has been transmitted to him; if he fails to sign or veto it within that window, it automatically becomes law. However, if the state legislature adjourns before the end of that 14 days without the governor's signature, it becomes a pocket veto. The last legislative session for the year is TENTATIVELY scheduled for Dec. 19. There are no more sessions scheduled for the rest of November, and only 9 session days for December - but the last three of those days are tentative. It is possible that they will schedule some more days immediately following Christmas, like they did last year, depending on how pressing the issues remaining to be resolved are. If they don't, and (assuming they can get this out of committee and voted on/passed as soon as they return from the Thanksgiving break) they vote to adjourn before the end of Snyder's statutory 14 days, we start all over again next year. The republican leadership, at least in the House, has been very cooperative with Snyder. I hope we can get this done.

 

[ezkl2230]

Sb610 will be considered in the House Judiciary Committee on Thurs, 2/20/2014 at 9am. Passed with a veto-proof majority in the state senate, and it will need to pass with a veto-proof majority in the house as well, because Snyder isn't likely to sign something like this. Watch for MAIG and Moms Demand to go nuts lobbying against this.

We want this to pass!

 

[ezkl2230]

Bill passed by the MI House today by a veto-proof vote of 106-3. Back to the senate for a concurrence vote (approving changes made by the house), and then on to Gov. Snyder for his signature.