PDinDetroit
Regular Member
I believe that what I wrote was not understood - I did not state "No Compromise" as is clearly evident from my post below.
PDinDetroit said:
There were those who, before Shall Issue became law with PFZ's added, did obtain a CCW and could carry concealed in what we know as PFZ's today. Those people did lose Recognition of Rights with the PFZ Compromise. That compromise is now what some are fighting to remove and have been unsuccessful to date more than a decade later and plenty of evidence/facts to back up PFZ Removal. I believe it would have been better to fight for No PFZ's then instead of trying to get PFZ's repealed later.
Here is some experience I have gained by fighting hard for what we want instead of compromise.
1. Arts, Beats, and Eats Firearm Carry on Festival Property: It seemed that the deck was stacked against us in many ways - Public Opinion, Fellow Firearm Owners Afraid We Would Lose Further Rights and Openly Criticizing Us For Open Carry as "In Your Face" Tactics, and Some in the Open Carry Community Itself Suggesting that We Compromise for 2010 and Fight Harder in the Next Year. I was concerned myself as I had never undertaken such a challenge with a group like this, I had Medical Issues ongoing where I was in debilitating pain daily which required Major Surgery at the End of August 2010, Royal Oak was my Home City and I was concerned with Repercussions from both the General Public and City Officials, and my Work Role is a Highly Visible Position where Publicity on this issue at hand could have adversely affected my career. Despite these concerns, I believed it best to pursue the issue and fight hard to resolve the issue for the best possible outcome we could achieve.
We were approached to compromise by various persons involved including the Festival Promoter, Jon Witz. I had 5-6 phone conversations with Mr Witz and 3 in person discussions where multiple compromises were proposed that at times seemed reasonable but would have traded away Recognition of Our Rights in some shape or form. I sincerely listened to the proposals offered, discussed openly why they would not work or not be accepted, and stood firm to not compromise if at all possible since I believed in what we were doing. I and others personally put ourselves in the Public Spotlight with Speaking During Public Comments Sessions of the Royal Oak City Commission Meetings (which are televised), a WXYZ TV News Interview which aired as the Lead Story on the 6 PM and 11 PM News Reports, and a 2 Page Spread in the Detroit Free Press Sunday Edition. I wrote Multiple Letters to the City Officials, to Oakland County Officials, and even to the Michigan Legislators pressing our points home.
What was the result of Fighting Hard and Not Compromising Here?
A. The City of Royal Oak and Jon Witz agreed to amend the Festival Contract to Remove the No Firearm Clause Exactly as We Requested (The Second Amendment to the Festival Contract - pretty ironic). Even the Governor of Michigan (Jennifer Granholm) would not step in to Ban Firearms at the festival even though City Officials tried this angle.
B. Millions of Michigan Residents and Residents of Other States found out that Open Carry is Legal in Michigan and helped put Open Carriers in a better light with Fellow Firearm Owners (though not as much as I would like).
C. Multiple News Outlets, including TV, Radio, and Print, Reported that there were No Issues with Firearm Carry at the Festival (approximately 423,000 persons attended - a record for the festival).
D. Mr Jon Witz stated to me that he was pleasantly surprised that there were No Issues and that the controversy actually helped promote the Festival. His extra effort to Ban Firearms from Festivals like these went exactly nowhere.
E. The Cities of Royal Oak, Berkley, and Huntington Woods voted on Resolutions to implore the State Legislature to Ban Firearms from Public Buildings and/or Give Cities Home Rule Abilities/Powers to Regulate Firearms. These went exactly nowhere.
F. This helped give MOC "Street Cred" and helped discussions with other cities go smoother as they knew we would fight hard for what we believed to be right.
G. MSP Legal Update #86 was published 2 months later with the assistance of members of the Open Carry Community, which I truly believe was done as a result of this very public effort.
H. Open Carriers being harassed by Law Enforcement is now few and far between when before that time it seemed to be a weekly occurrence.
2. CADL V MOC Legal Action. It seemed that the deck was stacked against us in many ways yet again - Public Opinion, An Anti-Gun Circuit Court Judge, Existing Laws Not Mentioning District Libraries under MI Firearm Preemption, Fellow Firearm Owners Afraid We Would Lose Further Rights and Openly Criticizing Us For Open Carry as "In Your Face" Tactics, and Some in the Open Carry Community Itself Suggesting that the "Shotgun Guy" face the Music all by himself. Even though I did not like how the Legal Action started, I was first to donate to the MOC Legal Defense Fund for $500. I attended the Circuit Court Proceedings where we lost, attended the MI Court Of Appeals Proceedings where we won, and truly believe that the MI Supreme Court will not hear the case at all.
What was the result of Fighting Hard and Not Compromising Here?
A. Michigan Open Carry (MOC) and Michigan Gun Owners (MGO) worked together on the case, where MGO actually filed suit against CADL but that case was dismissed. These 2 Michigan Firearm Rights Organizations now have a better working relationship.
B. The MI Court Of Appeals (COA) ruled that the State of Michigan Preempts the Entire Field of Firearm Regulation against far more than what is listed under MCL 123.1101. I believe that this ruling will form the basis for additional legal challenges yet to come where Rights will be further Recognized and Supported, with Firearm Carry being allowed in places it is currently not allowed.
C. Open Carriers are seen by Fellow Firearm Owners as leading the Fight for Firearm Rights and more Support has been garnered by same.
I post these things here with the express intent of showing that Fighting Hard can work and Compromise should be a Last Resort if at all used. If we fight hard together for what we believe to be right, I truly believe that we can achieve far more than we realize to be possible.
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