Hijacking the usual summary – act accordingly.
Y’know I can comprehend (but not sympathize) why Texans are like that. Living up to all that Texas-Ranger-Alamo-Davy-Crockett-John-Wayne thang, playing cowboys for the better part of the last century, all that gun-totin’ and shootin’-iron stuff is part of their, for lack of a better term, culture.
But, really, how does that play into Michigan culture?
The state Senate just passed two bills that would — get this — ban open carry firearms in polling places and surrounding areas, including temporary early-voting sites. These two bills now have to pass in the state House before our beloved Gov Whitmer may sign them into Michigan law with her mightier-than-the-sword fountain pen. Apparently, these proposed bills may meet some GOP resistance.
What I want to know is, and I’m asking the as-of-today 256 subscribed members and also non-subscribed visitors of this community, the answer to one thing…
Why would anybody ever realistically need a firearm in a voting booth?
Is the hunting good? Are there bats or owls in the rafters? Is Frank Miller in town? No, not that coincidentally-named Frank Miller, the emotionally-stunted adolescent-fiction writer/illustrator. Maybe you heard there’s gonna be skeet afterward? Maybe just to be “prepared for anything”? Or you’re just paranoid.
All snark aside, someone has got to explain this to me and/or why the state House of Representatives would ever try to block a no-brainer set of bills from passing.
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Why would anybody ever realistically need a firearm in a voting booth?
For the sake of argument, I suppose one could need it to prevent voter intimidation and suppression like we’ve seen in many right wing areas over the last several years (and centuries before too).
Something something good guy with a gun?
Seriously, though, is it possible that the culture in Michigan is more diverse than you think? The State House represents more than just Metro Detroit: the West side, the rural towns and the UP have their own distinct cultures, which may idolize guns or at least the image of a guy with guns.
Judging by your response, I’d say you are outside the metroDetroit™ area. As far as your accusation of my underestimation of Michigan “culture”, are you saying, like the cited Texans and their baggage, Michigan’s colonial fur trade is the root of all of our musket carrying? I certainly do like my Battle Creek-born Corn Flakes and my Kalamazoo-born Les Paul.
Regardless of “distinct cultures,” I don’t see how any rational being could consider carrying a weapon outside of certain conditions justifiable, cited example being one where there is absolutely no reason to carry, even to the parking lot. Am I missing something here?
Edit: syntactical error.
No accusations here, friend. I’m in the Metro area, and I thoroughly despise the gun culture in this country. But for whatever reason, there is a gun culture, especially in rural areas, in Michigan and across the whole US. I don’t think it has a basis in logic or rational thinking, but in cultural heritage and “freedom”. But we who emphasize gun safety and limitations need to understand how they think if we’re to make real progress.
I think Jordan Klepper had a good video on YouTube about guns in his native Kalamazoo that’s worth watching.
ITT: people forgetting that once upon a time the Black Panthers had to open carry to the ballot box to prevent racist mobs from attacking them.
Yes, it is a different time now, and yes, banning guns from voting places is probably a good idea. Just keep in mind that arguments for carrying to the ballot box are not entirely without merit.
Yes, it is a different time now […]
Unfortunately, not that different.
It less about needing a gun in a polling place and more about it being a hurdle to carrying in general.
So you have to leave the gun in the car, but what if the parking lot is in range? Now you have to leave your gun at home or risk a charge that could lose all your guns. Generally the goal of legislation like this is to effectively ban open carrying by making it impractical to ever do so.
While obviously there are flaws to the original text, it did have pretty specific timeframe and location restrictions. Near polling places and ballot drop-offs, for a period of 40 days during an election.
This sounds like you see this as a problem. Do you carry going to Kroger for milk?
I don’t carry, but I don’t care to restrict others from doing so.
So you don’t have a problem with someone else packing while, say, shopping at Meijer’s?
Nope. I’ve had friends that carry open and concealed, it’s not really any of my business. Personally I think normalizing the sight and handling of guns would be good for everyone involved. Gun safety classes as part of school would probably save more lives than banning access.
Gun safety classes as part of school would probably save more lives than banning access.
Okay, cowboy. Tell that to the Crumbleys. Or the families of Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, Hana St. Juliana or Justin Shilling. Or maybe Anthony McRae and his victims…oops, too late. How about Halisa Lloydnette-Christine Brown and Sturlin Markese Minion? They certainly could have used a lesson or two. Y’know, before their five-year-old blew his face off with their unsecured gun. I imagine Michael Tolbert is thinking, “gosh, I could’ve used a couple of gun safety classes.”
It’s gun culture that’s killing us. We are desensitized to it and will never admit it. By the way, nobody is talking about banning access.
You can punish someone who doesn’t secure their gun after the fact, but that doesn’t save lives. Teaching kids about guns so they don’t accidentally shoot themselves or others, could save lives. You could probably even come up with a way to charge someone with endangerment if you really wanted.
The ballot and the bullet
Why? That’s easy. To intimate other voters. That’s it.
I think it’s high time we ban gun ownership outright in this country. This is a good first step towards that. Open carrying at polling places only serves to intimidate.
Ban the government and police from owning and carrying guns first, then we’ll talk.
Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary.
I get where you’re coming from, but on a practical level such laws would almost universally be enforced against minorities and the disenfranchised, while cops and fascists will be allowed to keep their guns unchallenged. I absolutely do not trust any level of US government or law enforcement to enforce gun bans fairly and evenly.
I really hate how right you are about this =\
