Plymouth-Canton Community School officials say they — not the state — should decide whether concealed pistols are allowed in public schools.
The school board voted 5-1 last week in favor of a resolution that calls on Gov. Rick Snyder and the Michigan Legislature to leave the matter to the discretion of local boards of education, and allow them to opt out of any mandates that may be handed down from the state, The Canton Observer/Hometownlife.com reports.
The Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee last month passed a pair of bills, Senate Bills 442 and 561, that are designed to fix a quirk in the state law that makes it illegal to carry a concealed weapon in gun free zones like schools, college dormitories, sports stadiums and other public venues, but OK to display them.
The bills approved by the committee would would allow concealed weapons, but prohibit the open carry of weapons in schools, despite objections by the Michigan Association of School Boards. During testimony on the bills earlier this fall, MASB Executive Director Don Wortuba said “moving to a concealed carry system only hides the potential danger.”
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State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton Township, a co-sponsor of the Senate legislation and a member of the chamber’s Judiciary Committee, said the change won’t have a measurable effect.
“There’ll be no more guns in the schools, there’ll be no less guns in the schools,” Colbeck told The Observer.
The proposed legislation hasn’t yet moved to the full Senate for consideration.
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Plymouth-Canton Board Secretary Kate Borninski said that schools need to ensure the safety of students, but she’s skeptical that allowing concealed weapons in schools is the way to go about it.
“I don’t think anyone would say that guns and children are a good mixture,” she said.
The only official voting against the resolution that would allow local school districts an opt-out if the law wins approval was Trustee Mike Maloney, who told The Observer the Senate Judiciary Committee struck a “reasonable compromise.”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea for the board to do anything to slow that bill down,” Maloney said, adding that an epidemic of school shootings around the country may have had a different outcome if people inside the schools had been armed.
“Everybody wants to try to reduce the level of violence in schools and public places, but the real question before us is, what’s the best way to do that?” he said.
Courts Could Ultimately Decide
The issue has been coming to a head for more than a year and could ultimately be decided by the courts.
On several occasions last year, open carry advocates tested the limits of the law, moving the front line of their gun rights campaign to an unlikely place — Michigan’s public schools
Earlier this fall, a Genesee County judge sided with the Michigan Open Carry Group, which filed a lawsuit against the Clio school district. The judge ruled that Kenneth Harman, whose daughter attends school in Clio, had a right to openly carry his weapon in her school.
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The school district has said it will appeal the decision.
Another lawsuit filed by Michigan Gun Owners and Ulysses Wong challenging a ban on guns and other dangerous weapons on school property had a different result. The judge dismissed that case, and the plaintiffs have also promised an appeal.
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