Since you have to pay to read their material online, I'll give you some excerpts here. I give her credit, she had the facts straight and didn't twist my words as badly as some have.
Changes to concealed weapons law won't affect private businesses
By Whitney Gronski-Buffa
Pioneer Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, February 19, 2011 2:07 AM EST
BIG RAPIDS — At the grocery store or in the movie theater or in a parking lot by himself, Ferris State University student Chris Jane said he feels safer than he does while crossing campus, where he isn’t allowed to carry a concealed weapon.
Jane, 29, of Big Rapids, has a concealed pistol license, or CPL. He also is a National Rifle Association instructor and member of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a nation-wide movement of students who want weapons in the classroom. Jane and other members write about the topic online at www.ConcealedCampus.com.
Since 2000, college campuses have been gun-free zones exempt from Michigan’s Concealed Pistol Permits Act.
“It doesn’t seem logical to me to just believe that I’m safe because I cross an imaginary line in the sidewalk that says I’m now in a gun-free zone,” Jane said. “Even though we have a fantastic police department here, it would still take three to five minutes for them to respond and that’s fast, but to be in a place where there’s an active shooter, that’s a long time to be hiding under a desk.”
On-campus attacks like the Virginia Tech massacre are never too far from Jane’s mind and aren’t a foreign concept in Big Rapids.
The Ferris community was shaken in 1980 when 20-year-old student Thomas Kakonis walked into a classroom and shot his accounting professor, Robert Brauer, in front of 30 other students. Kakonis was found not guilty by reason of insanity later that year.
Jane said that kind of attack is one that could have been subdued if a responsible, gun-carrying student would have been able to react in that situation. That’s why Jane still won’t be satisfied with Michigan’s gun policy even if the concealed weapon law is changed this year.A proposed amendment to Michigan’s concealed weapons law could remove the gun-free distinction from college campuses, effectively allowing campus visitors to carry a concealed weapon in dorms or classrooms.
If passed, Senate Bill No. 58, sponsored by State Sen. Mike Green (R-Mayville), would repeal portions of Michigan’s concealed carry law that prohibit gun owners from carrying their weapons in public schools, day cares centers, stadiums, bars, churches and hospitals, in addition to college campuses.
But repealing those restrictions wouldn’t necessarily change the sanctions that Ferris places on university employees and students like Jane who want to carry guns.
“Something that’s important to remember is that there’s a difference between administrative sanctions (and state law),” said Marty Bledsoe, director of FSU’s Department of Public Safety. “We can put sanctions on them that are private, civil sanctions. For example, we can say that you can’t have candles in the dorms just as we can say you can’t have guns in the dorms.”
As it stands, students and employees are not allowed to carry any weapons on campus. Unless changes are made to the bill before it is put into law, universities still would be able to impose gun-free limitations on students and staff.
The same would be true in privately owned businesses, such as bars or day care centers, said Mecosta County Prosecutor Peter Jaklevic.
“Once the legislation is passed and these are no longer considered safety zones, the landowner in these private entities — like bars, churches, things that aren’t public institutions or publicly owned — still has the ability to put up a sign that says, ‘No guns allowed,’” Jaklevic said.
If a person decided to carry a concealed weapon to a bar where the owner prohibits concealed carry, they could be asked to leave and charged with trespassing if they refuse, Jaklevic said. That person wouldn’t face any gun-related charges.“People that want to carry are getting (permits) regardless of if they can carry in these gun-free zones,” he said. “We’re still issuing permits to responsible people. Personally, I don’t see any reason to carry a firearm in church, but that’s one of the gun-free zones adopted by the state and (the bill needs to abolish) all of them or none of them.” - Mecosta county Sherriff Purcell