Local lawmakers back school in opposing bill to allow guns in schools

State Reps. Rob VerHeulen, R-Walker, and Chris Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township, are not crazy about concealed weapons legislation passed by the Michigan Senate in November. (Chris Clark | MLive.com)(Chris Clark | MLive.com)

State representatives Rob VerHeulen, R-Walker, and Chris Afendoulis, R-Grand Rapids Township, both say they will vote against concealed weapons legislation that was approved by the State Senate and is expected to go to the House for a vote.

Senate Bills 584-586 and 366, which were passed by the GOP-led Senate on Nov. 9 last year, reconfigure laws surrounding concealed carry in the state.

Specifically, SB 584-586 would allow concealed pistol license holders with extended training to carry weapons in areas that are currently off limits for concealed weapons, such as schools, while SB 366 allows 18- to 20-year-old individuals in Michigan to obtain a provisional license to carry a concealed weapon. The current age for getting a concealed pistol license in the state is 21.

The bill package was referred to the House Judiciary Committee the day it was passed by the Senate but it hasn't seen much action since.

"I haven't heard anything about them coming up," Afendoulis said. "But that doesn't mean they're not going to come up.

"I'm opposed to those bills," he said. "When I ran for office, the question of guns came up a lot when I was meeting with constituents, and frankly, my position has been pretty consistent in that I think our gun laws are in a place that a great, great majority of our citizens are comfortable with and I'm just really not in favor of making any significant changes."

Afendoulis said he doesn't think any major changes to the bills will be made by the time they come to the House floor.

It is his belief that a majority of Michiganders would not be comfortable with people having the ability to carry concealed firearms in areas such as schools and churches as the bills would allow.

The fact that the legislation, as currently written, also places new restrictions on open carry was another issue for Afendoulis.

"That's why I've just taken the position that we should stay where we're at, and you'll find I voted against the House package that passed (last year)," Afendoulis said, referring to House Bills 4416 through 4419, which were passed in June 2017.

Combined, those bills strike the requirement that a Michigander have a license to carry a concealed weapon, reduce penalties for certain infractions related to carrying a pistol without proper identification or disclosure, and ban people who who are banned from possessing firearms from carrying them as well.

Afendoulis and VerHeulen were among the seven Republican representatives that voted against those pieces of legislation.

"The (Senate and House) bill packages have some inconsistencies and they go in different directions," Afendoulis said. "Based on what the Senate passed, you could probably surmise that they're probably not enthusiastic about the House bills, and based on what the House passed, I think you'd probably get the same sentiment, that the Senate bills don't go where the House wants them to go."

VerHeulen, who voted against the House bills approved last June, also maintains that he would not vote for the legislation passed by the Senate in November should it hit the House floor unchanged.

Guns in schools and previously off-limit areas is a particularly complicated issue, he said, when it comes to the Senate bill package, which does not allow school districts to make their own determinations regarding firearms except for when it comes to their own students and staff.

"It's a complicated issue, and I've talked to the sheriff, I've talked to other law enforcement folks, I've talked to school administrators, I've talked to parents, and I guess where I come down is that my preference ... (is) it probably makes sense to let each district make the determination," VerHeulen said.

"I have always been a supporter of local control," he said. "Firearms legislation is normally kind of a statewide thing -- and I get that -- but I think the dynamics are different. Each school district's makeup is different and I would be more comfortable letting the local school districts decide how they want to handle it."

Local control is exactly what one school within VerHeulen's 74th District, Rockford Public Schools, is looking for. The Rockford Board of Education made its feelings known on the matter with a resolution opposing the Senate's concealed weapons bills in early January.

"We certainly want to do everything we can to respect and honor and act in accordance with the constitutional protections afforded to American citizens," VerHeulen said. "Unfortunately, for a legislator, we have to vote yes or no on a particular bill and I always try to defer making my decisions until it's right in front of me (and I can) talk to my colleagues, go back again and talk to my constituents.

"It's challenging. It's a complex issue and there are no simple answers."

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