Michigan’s attorney general has said that firearms can be banned from the state Capitol, less than two weeks after armed demonstrators stormed the complex in Lansing, protesting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order.
“I firmly believe in the right to protest, the right to demonstrate, and the right to loudly and strongly object to those causes that move us,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel in a formal opinion. “These rights are so fundamental to our democracy that they are enshrined in the First Amendment of our Constitution. But it is also important to remember that the right to protest does not encompass the right to violence, or the right to harm those individuals with whom you disagree.”
The Michigan Capitol Commission is slated to discuss the issue Monday.
Nessel argued the concept of “open carry,” which is legal in Michigan, does not “provide the unfettered right to bring firearms into any public space.”
On April 30, protesters, some carrying rifles and other long guns, gathered inside the House chamber and yelled down to the legislators on the floor. The apparent show of force led some members to wear bulletproof vests.
“There are legislators who are wearing bulletproof vests to go to work,” Whitmer said of the potential ban on guns last week. “No one should be intimidated by someone who’s bringing in an assault rifle into their workplace. And so there is conversation about changing that law.”
“I think it’s long overdue, and I absolutely support that change,” she continued. “You shouldn’t be intimidated going to be the voice of the people who elected you.”
