Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seemingly hasn’t seen an anti-gun bill that she doesn’t support. Now, Democrat legislators in Lansing are trying to push another restrictive law through for Whitmer’s signature—one that would expand the list of “gun-free” zones in the state to include polling places, including ballot drop boxes.
Two measures, House Bill 4127 and HB 4128, are currently being considered by the Michigan Senate Elections and Ethics Committee. HB 4127 bars citizens, even those with a concealed carry permit, from carrying a firearm, “while the polls are open on an election day, possess a firearm in a polling place or within 100 feet from any entrance to a building in which a polling place is located. On any day early voting is conducted at an early voting site as described in section 4(1)(m) of article II of the state constitution of 1963, possess a firearm at an early voting site or within 100 feet from any entrance to a building in which an early voting site is located.
HB 4128 states that, “A person shall not, while absent voter ballots are being processed, possess a firearm in an absent voter counting place or a combined absent voter counting place or within 100 feet from any entrance to an absent voter counting place or a combined absent voter counting place.”
Of course, the measure is completely nonsensical. Under current Michigan law, those with carry permits are allowed to carry while voting. A person carrying a concealed firearm into a polling place doesn’t get noticed any more than a person without a gun. That’s why it’s called “concealed” carry.
The 100-foot limit is also problematic. Consider a concealed carry permit holder whose workplace is located within 100 feet of an early voting site. The law would infringe on their Second Amendment rights for a minimum of nine days, and up to 29 days where communities choose to do so.
Of course, gun-ban advocates, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, cheered the legislation. In fact, she worked with state lawmakers to get the measure introduced.
“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” Benson said last February when announcing the effort. “The time for taking action to ensure Michiganders are safe—in schools, in grocery stores, in places where we vote and everywhere in between—is now.”
What Benson and others won’t tell you is that criminals ignore so-called “gun-free” zones. Consequently, those who carry a gun for self-defense will now be left unprotected at voting areas, while criminals can carry whatever guns they’d like into those same areas.