Bill Passed In Michigan Would Allow Gun Permits For People With A PPO Out Against Them

Michigan’s Senate Bill 789 is stirring controversy among some Michiganders who are scared that the bill would allow concealed weapons permits to be issued to people who have a personal protection order (PPO) against them. This is just one of the provisions in Senate Bill 789, which awaits Governor Rick Snyder’s signature, according to state records.

The controversial bill will allow any Michigander who would otherwise be eligible to own a gun to obtain a concealed weapons permit, according to the Free Press. Domestic violence advocates oppose the bill and are asking Snyder to veto it, because they are concerned that people who are named on a PPO for stalking or domestic violence would be allowed to carry a concealed weapon.

Gun rights advocates in Michigan point out that not everyone who is the subject of a PPO would be permitted to carry a gun in Michigan. For example, if a ban on having a gun is part of the personal protection order, this bill would still not afford the person the right to obtain a gun or carry a concealed weapon. Advocates of Michigan’s SB 789 are pleased that it would end county gun boards and make Michigan into an actual “shall-issue” state. Still, not everyone is comfortable with relying on the specific wording of individual PPOs as the primary exclusion for obtaining a gun and feel that being the subject of a PPO in general should negate any rights to carrying a concealed weapon, because a PPO is not a conviction.

“Putting firearms in the hands of domestic violence perpetrators is dangerous; removing commonsense protections is dangerous,” Kathy Hagenian, executive policy director for the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, explained. Hagenian wants to see Snyder veto the bill.

The gun bill’s sponsor, Michigan Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville, originally said that he was not aware of any provision that related to PPOs in the gun bill, according to the Free Press, but later explained that gun rights advocates felt that a PPO alone should not exclude a person from Michigan from obtaining a concealed weapons permit as long as a restriction on firearms is not part of the court ordered PPO. Green said, “you can make a mountain out of a molehill,” when asked if it was legitimate that some domestic violence victims are worried about the PPO provision in Michigan’s pending law. Green suggested that some Michiganders opposing gun rights are looking for anything they can find wrong with the gun bill that is awaiting Snyder’s signature.

Watch this video on Sen. Mike Green’s YouTube video showing Green speaking at a 2nd Amendment Rally where he explains his feelings on gun rights.

Michigan’s gun bill also would reduce the processing time for permits from 60 days down to 45 days and the maximum fee down to 90 dollars from 105 dollars. The bill removes the rights of authorities to access mental health records or require certain applicants to have face-to-face interviews with the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The Battle Creek Enquirer published a statement Tuesday by the paper’s editorial board imploring Governor Snyder to veto the gun bill.

“We recognize that a PPO is not, in and of itself, a conviction, but we’re also painfully aware of the prevalence of domestic assault and the correlation between firearms and domestic violence, and we see no reason to remove this additional safeguard… The good news is that Gov. Snyder need not pay this ransom. He can veto the bill. We believe he should.”

Some reports have indicated that Snyder has already passed the bill, but the Free Press said that as of Monday he had not and the bill’s page on the Michigan legislature website also indicates that as of Wednesday morning, he has not signed the gun bill into law.

Snyder made headlines recently after he signed a bill that implemented a pilot program that would allow drug screening for Michigan welfare applicants and recipients and before that when he issued an executive order that abolished a Michigan food council that was designed to promote agricultural diversity and support local food systems. The Michigan governor is expected to sign the bill that will allow many Michiganders, including some people subject to PPO instructions, the right to obtain a concealed weapons permit swiftly and less expensively.

[Photo of Senator Mike Green via YouTube Video]