Michigan Democrats seize on MSU shooting to push unrelated anti-gun agenda

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and her allies in the Democratic state legislature are seizing on our state’s collective heartbreak after the Michigan State University shooting to push an entirely unrelated anti-gun agenda.

Lawmakers
introduced legislation
to enact so-called universal background checks, mandate “safe storage,” and create a “red flag” system to confiscate guns from those suspected of potential violence. There’s a legitimate policy debate to be had on all of these issues, with serious concerns and counterarguments against each proposal. Importantly, however, they have absolutely nothing to do with the MSU shooting — but lawmakers are claiming their bills would stop this kind of tragedy.

“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” Whitmer
said
in a video message pushing legislative action after the shooting. “We are in a unique position to take action and save lives. And that’s exactly what we are going to do in the weeks ahead” (emphasis added).

But none of these bills would’ve prevented the alleged Michigan shooter. He even had
past criminal charges
for flouting gun laws and restrictions, making the idea that more gun laws would’ve stopped him laughable.

What’s more, he
reportedly
used two legally purchased 9 mm pistols. Nothing the Democrats have proposed would’ve stopped him from obtaining them. He was not legally prohibited from having a firearm, so a background check wouldn’t have stopped him. (All federally licensed firearms dealers are already required to run background checks anyway.)

And the shooter had multiple past encounters with law enforcement, but they didn’t see this coming. Yet we’re supposed to believe a red flag law would’ve stopped him? Even if it had, he could’ve simply stolen a gun or used another method to hurt people. (A determined, deranged person could easily kill three people, as he did, with a car, knife, or another method, as we’ve seen in many other cases).

Ironically, Democrats aren’t talking about any of the things that might have actually made a difference, such as if the state had
allowed MSU students to defend themselves
or actually
imprisoned the alleged shooter over his past charges
instead of letting him off with a misdemeanor. They’re just using this tragedy to push an unrelated agenda they already wanted to pass but couldn’t get through.

That’s beyond cynical. And they’re literally openly admitting it.

“Some of the legislation we have goes back 10 years,” state Sen. Rosemary Baye (D)
said
. “We just haven’t been able to get any traction to do anything.”

“One of the models we’ve seen in these horrible tragedies is that we need to act quickly,” another Democratic state senator, Darrin Camilleri,
added
. “Even in Florida, they were able to get it done in a red legislature.”

It’s no wonder gun rights advocates are raising the alarm.

“Gun control hasn’t worked here — and so-called ‘gun free’ zones failed the students of Michigan State,” Great Lakes Gun Rights Executive Director Brenden Boudreau
said
in a statement blasting the move. “Now Democrats are doubling down on unconstitutional policies which will only hurt law-abiding citizens while criminals simply ignore the law.”

“The sad truth is deranged murderers who commit pre-meditated murder are not halted by gun confiscation, registration, and lock up your safety laws,” he continued. “They willingly violate these regulations while good Michiganders who lawfully own firearms pay the price for failed gun control policies.”

Don’t forget for a second that Michiganders are mourning right now. This killing has left our state rattled and distraught. So, it is disgraceful to use the tragic loss of life at MSU to push an unrelated partisan agenda. But that’s exactly what Whitmer and her allies are trying to do.

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Brad Polumbo (
@Brad_Polumbo
) is a Michigan-based journalist, the co-founder of
BASEDPolitics
, and a Washington Examiner contributor.