Tagged: guns

A gun charge filed against former state House Speaker Craig DeRoche has been dismissed.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled a charge of possessing a firearm while intoxicated violated his Second Amendment rights.
    
DeRoche was charged with being drunk while possessing a firearm in the summer of 2010.

His mother-in-law told police he had locked himself in one of his children’s bedrooms with a 40-caliber-handgun. But, by the time police arrived, she had already taken the gun and hidden it.
    
DeRoche challenged the criminal charge as a violation of his Second Amendment rights.

The Court of Appeals agreed and said, since the gun had been moved away from him to another part of the house, he was only near the firearm – not in possession of it.

The court decision says to rule otherwise would be too restrictive – essentially, people in a residence with a firearm anywhere in it could not consume alcohol.
    
DeRoche served as the state House Republican leader from 2005 to 2008. He says he has quit drinking.

A Republican legislator says he will introduce a bill soon that would let school boards decide whether to let teachers and parents  bring concealed guns into school buildings.

State Senator Mike Green (R-Mayville) says it's his new alternative to a measure vetoed by Governor Rick Snyder last year.

That bill would have ended schools' status as gun-free zones under Michigan's concealed weapons law. Green says this would give the option to school boards.

"There's a lot of school teachers that are very well trained that would love to be able to do that. That's coming in a bill I haven't introduced yet, but we've got it on a fast track," said Green.

Green says his legislation could be introduced as soon as this week. There is some question right now whether people with concealed pistol permits may openly carry firearms in Michigan schools.

Governor Snyder says he might be open to the idea, but new gun laws rank low on his list of priorities.

LAPEER, Mich. (AP) -- Officials say a security officer who left his gun unattended in a Lapeer charter school's restroom will keep his job.

According to Chatfield School Director Matt Young, the school reviewed the incident and has decided the unnamed officer "is a good fit for the position."

This “week in review”, Michigan Radio’s Weekend Edition host Rina Miller and political analyst Jack Lessenberry discuss proposed gun laws in Michigan, who might replace former Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway, and the new hiring rules for emergency financial managers in the state.

Governor Rick Snyder is weighing in on the debate over guns laws going on at the state Capitol. There are a number of new bills related to guns pending. Snyder was asked if he supports any of the proposed changes at events in Grand Rapids Friday.

Not to downplay the importance of gun rights or guns laws, but Governor Snyder just doesn’t think guns in general have a big part in his plan to “reinvent Michigan.” He says lawmakers in Lansing should let the debate over gun control run its course at the federal level first.

“In the meantime we could get a lot done on jobs, infrastructure, education; a lot of important topics. So I would prefer we stay on those topics,” Snyder said.

Snyder says he would consider improvements to the state's mental health system before focusing on changes to its gun laws.