You are Free to choose

Of course your choice may come with consequences 

Whitmer vetoes bill ensuring access to 2A rights during emergencies

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed a bill requiring county officials to continue processing concealed carry applications during declared states of emergencies, once again putting her contempt for the right to keep and bear arms on full display.

In Wayne County, 2A groups were forced to file suit last year after wait times for concealed carry applications stretched out to more than a year; an issue that the county clerk blamed on COVID staffing levels. And while thousands of legal gun owners were left twiddling their thumbs for months on end, prosecutors in Wayne County were also charging a growing number of residents with carrying without a license.

That possessory offense is a felony crime in Michigan, and one that comes with a potential five-year prison sentence. By January of this year public defenders in Wayne County deemed the problem so bad that they called on the prosecutor to quit charging CCW-only cases entirely.

 the number of people charged with just carrying a concealed weapon in Wayne County has exploded since the pandemic. NDS reports that 70% of its clients charged with the crime legally own their weapon and, citing internal statistics, said 97% are black.

In a press conference today, they called for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to dismiss CCW-only charges currently pending.

“The vast majority of the CCW arrests are involving legal guns, legally owned by the arrestees,” said Arnie Chambers, a criminal defense attorney. “Most have very little if any prior contacts with law enforcement, yet they’re being charged with felonies.”

Some of those arrested may have believed that they were allowed to carry a gun in their vehicle without a carry license, but my guess is that at least a few of the legal gun owners charged with violating the state’s CCW laws had to make a conscious choice;

violate the law and be better protected, or abide by the law and put themselves at risk of becoming the victim of violent crime.

If only the gramma was carrying

Group of Teens Carjack 73-Year-Old Grandmother, Drag Her to Death in Front of Neighbors

Have we entered the Post-Constitutional era?

Upchurch came to mind