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Lansing StateJournal
December 2, 2007 By Brian Jeffs
Jeffs: Mich. is among states that allow citizens to openly carry handguns
Some restrictions do apply, but citizens have right to carry.
A movement is growing nationwide as more residents are exerting a right that is not often exercised. That right is the open carry of a handgun for all lawful purposes. Forty-four states allow the open carry of a handgun by adults who can lawfully own one. Few realize, including some in law enforcement, that Michigan is one of these states.
One does not need a concealed pistol license to open carry, but it makes it easier to do so. In Michigan, non-CPL holders can only transport an unloaded handgun secured in a case or in the trunk of their vehicle under specific conditions defined by law (MCL 750.227).
CPL holders, however, can transport a loaded handgun in their vehicle or on their person, either concealed or openly. CPL holders can carry or transport a handgun registered to another person as long as the handgun is lawfully owned and registered in Michigan (MCL Act 372, 28.432). A non-CPL holder can only carry a handgun that is registered in their name. If one spouse is a CPL holder and the other is not, the CPL holding spouse can transport the other's handgun as well as their own. Once the non-CPL holding spouse leaves the vehicle they can carry their loaded handgun openly. This method can be employed by non-relatives as well. A non-CPL holder must unload and secure his handgun before entering a vehicle.
Why open carry? One reason is that an adult under 21 years of age can not get a CPL in Michigan, but the law allows them to openly carry. A second reason is that a person may not be able to afford the high cost of the initial permit, which can exceed $300.
Before deciding to openly carry a handgun, it behooves you to research Michigan firearm laws ([url]http://www.michigan.gov/msp[/url]). There are restrictions in which a person can possess a firearm. These restrictions vary slightly for concealed carry and open carry. These restrictions can be found inMCL 28.424o and 750.234d. Game laws also exist that restrict times and areas a firearm can be carried.
Michigan has a firearm preemption law that disallows local municipalities from passing laws more restrictive than the state without state approval. This allows open carry in any city as well as most municipal buildings. Most federal property has restrictions on firearm possession. A review of federal firearm laws is recommended. Additionally, private property owners can restrict firearms in their building and on their property. If you are asked to leave private property, you must do so or face a trespass charge.
Openly carrying a firearm has restrictions and is not for everyone. Become familiar with firearm laws and the use of deadly force. Carrying a firearm is a great responsibility each person must consider. For those wishing to carry a firearm for protection and all lawful purposes, though, it is an option worth looking into. Remember, a right not exercised is a right lost.
The Flint Journal: Saturday June 14, 2008,
Openly carrying their guns, group touts unorthodox beliefs at Burton park
by Melissa Burden
BURTON, Michigan -- Pistols in their holsters and holsters on their hips, a small group of people who believe in the right to openly carry -- loaded handguns, that is -- met today at Kelly Lake Park for a picnic and spread the word about their unorthodox beliefs.
"We don't do this for attention or to show off," said retired postal worker Jerry Brewer, 55, of Owosso. "We just purely want to educate." State of Michigan geologist Brian Jeffs, 50, of Bath Township near Lansing has openly carried his 9mm semiautomatic Smith & Wesson for the past eight months, while Nathan Nephew, 21, of Frankenmuth, who works in information technology, claims he openly carries his handgun to protect himself and his loved ones.
And what they are doing is legal, as long as the handguns they are carrying are visible and stay in their holsters, said Burton Police Chief John Benthall. Brandishing the weapon would be breaking the law, Benthall said. "I have researched this every way I can and I cannot find any law against it," he said.
Brewer, Nephew andJeffs are all members of theonline community at http://www.opencarry.org, a pro-gun Web site that claims thousands of registered members across the U.S. At about noon, a group of about six open-carry advocates gathered in a picnic area in the nearly empty park, with just an angler or two across the lake.
Jeffs said the open-carry group grew to about 16 or 17 later in the afternoon and that a few park-goers stopped to ask questions.Benthall said Friday that Burton police weren't going to react to the group meeting in public, nor have a police presence at the park, unless they received a call.Benthall said he had contact with members of opencarry.org about an open carry and meeting in Burton. "I haven't given them permission," Benthall said. "I personally don't think this is a good idea. I think this is going to frighten people who don't understand that is legal."
Jeffs said he and others who post on opencarry.org want to help the public become more aware and more accustomed to seeing people openly carrying handguns, knowing that it is legal and that "you shouldn't necessarily feel threatened and call the police."Jeffs said he takes his 9mm with him on the weekends when he heads into Lansing to shop or stop by a coffee shop. "I'm doing it for the fact that I want to exercise a right," he said. Brewer, who hosts "Saturday Afternoon Shootout" with his son, Steve, every other Saturday at 3 p.m. on http://www.FlintTalkRadio.com., said he's had few questions when out in public with his gun on his hip, including some from law enforcement.
The Michigan group has met a few times in the past six months or so, openly packing their pistols, including at a Flint Township McDonald's. Nephew, who came to the picnic with his live-in girlfriend, Christina Florence, 24, and her daughter,Kayleeanna Florence, 3, claimed carrying the weapon is a deterrent to being mugged or attacked. Florence said she was apprehensive about guns for a time, having not grown up with them around, but feels safer with Nephew carrying his. She also has a concealed permit, but doesn't openly carry. But they are careful with the weapon and feel safe carrying it around Kayleeanna, Nephew and Florence said. "It's either in my holster or it's locked up," Nephew said.
Detroit Free Press
Gun owners show their metal in Hastings
About 40 stroll for 2nd Amendment
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF • July 25, 2008
HASTINGS -- Most of us probably don't know it, but Michigan is among the 44 states where it's legal to carry a gun in public without a permit.
To make that point, about 40 gun advocates walked out of Richie's Koffee Shop Inc. late Thursday afternoon with handguns holstered at their sides, part of a small but growing national movement to stand up for the constitutional right to bear arms. They strolled down this tidy west Michigan town's main street, barely causing a stir among passing motorists and pedestrians. When they finished, the group -- mostly white men -- gathered around a fountain at the Barry County Courthouse and heard a red-meat, pro-Second Amendment speech by organizer Skip Coryell, 50, who wore his .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun openly for the first time and extolled the virtues of carrying a weapon.
"Look at all the people around you carrying guns and not a criminal in sight," said Coryell, a gun instructor and self-styled publisher who lives near Holland. "Quite frankly, I don't feel criminals would feel comfortable among us right now." He said educating people about their right to carry guns openly is the "next wave of the Second Amendment."
The event, tinged with local gun politics, was the latest statement from gun advocates around the country to promote and defend the open toting of handguns. Earlier this summer, a small group caused a minor stir when they showed up to picnic at a park near Flint wearing holsters on their hips. On Sunday, 10 people made headlines in Boise, Idaho, when they carried handguns into the local zoo.
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, the largest U.S. gun control organization, said he doesn't dispute the legal right to carry weapons openly but thinks those who demonstrate for such rights are pushy and aggressive. "Their No. 1 mission seems to be making other people nervous," he said. "That's a little childish. Of all the issues that need volunteerism in this country, in Michigan, in Detroit, you'd think people would find a more useful way to use their volunteer hours than walking around showing they have a gun."
Organizers said they were defying Hastings Police Chief Jerry Sarver, whom they say wants to stifle their gun rights. Sarver, who's running for Barry County sheriff, denies that he wants to step on anyone's rights and acknowledged that Michigan law allows people to carry their handguns in a holster. "We're not going to interfere with them," Sarver said before the rally. "I think that's what they want."
The event was heavily promoted on the Web site OpenCarry.org, the premier place on the Internet for those who like their pistols at their side. Web site cofounder Mike Stollenwerk, a retired Army officer, said he and partner John Pierce started the site in 2004 out of a mutual interest in U.S. gun laws. "It's a couple of geeky guys who put together some maps and a database, and it became a movement," Stollenwerk said. Stollenwerk said the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that assured the right of individuals to own and carry guns stoked some interest in the open-carry movement, but he added that it's been growing on its own.
His Web site has more than 8,500 registered members and has been attracting 600,000 visitors a month, he said. The Hastings event was posted, and this week Stollenwerk issued a news release about it that suggested a looming confrontation in the streets. It didn't happen.
Heather Reed, 37, of Middleville, an unemployed animal-control officer, was among about a half dozen women who participated in Thursday's event. "I enjoy the freedom of the Second Amendment and I want to make a point that women ought to be able to defend themselves," said Reed, who packed an inoperable two-shot black powder antique derringer she had borrowed. "Right now I can't afford the .38 I want."
Another gun toter was Alex Walden, 73, a retired dairy farmer who lives near Hastings and often carries his .32 caliber pistol with him in his holster. He said it makes him feel safer.
About 155,000 Michiganders -- about one in every 75 -- have permits to carry concealed weapons. They must first pass an approved gun safety course -- something those who carry their weapons in the open aren't required to do.
Carrying a gun openly in public doesn't require a permit, though people who want to purchase a handgun must fill out a form and turn it in to their local police or sheriff's department. The police agency is to check the buyer's background and issue a permit good for 10 days, according to the Michigan State Police Web site.
In 2002, Michigan's law changed to require county gun boards to issue concealed weapon permits to adults who passed an approved safety course and did not have criminal records. Prior to the change, gun boards could deny permits for any reason.
Dave Stevens, 56, a high school teacher and an NRA instructor with a shooting range in his backyard, holds a concealed weapons permit and usually would rather carry his handgun out of sight. "I don't want to advertise. You make yourself a target if you do." Still, on Thursday, he carried a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic in the open.
While the event brought some business to the restaurant where she works, Desarai Haight, 23, a waitress at Richie's, said it left her a little nervous. "I think there should be some kind of screening or test to make sure people who carryweapons are of sound mind," she said.
Macomb Daily
[/b]Thursday, August 14, 2008
By Norb Franz, Staff Writer
'Open carry' group to gather
Guns on hips, advocates to meet in Warren
Ron Gibson carries a semi-automatic pistol on his hip for anyone to see, and insists he's not out to intimidate. When he goes to bed, the .45 caliber firearm is nearby and loaded. “Just because I'm carrying a gun, I shouldn't be viewed as a threat. I don't bring any attention to it whatsoever," he said.
Gibson is among about three dozen members of a gun rights group who will "pack" a picnic with their families Saturday afternoon in Warren. They are part of a growing movement of advocates promoting the Second Amendment and the open carrying of handguns. The group, members of OpenCarry.org, invites the public to stop by at Veterans Memorial Park, on Campbell at Martin Road, and ask questions or pick up a pamphlet. But don't look for them to fire shots into the sky - or even take their weapons out of the holster.
It's the first public event in Macomb County for the gun proponents, following other gatherings around Michigan - the most recent in Hastings. None of the events has caused much of a stir, but still raised a few eyebrows. "Our goal is to be educational without being confrontational," said Gibson, 38, of Washington Township. Pat Glide, salesman at Michi-Gun in St. Clair Shores, said most customers are knowledgeable about Michigan's right-to-carry gun laws. "We get asked questions on a daily basis," he said.
Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said Wednesday his department is aware of Saturday's picnic. "We don't believe there are going to be any problems. We feel they certainly have a right to do what they're doing," he said. Still, Warren police plan to monitor it. Dispatchers have been advised about the picnic and how to handle any 911 calls. Dwyer refused to divulge details of an operational order he has issued for officers Saturday. "Hopefully it will be a peaceful picnic," he added.
With Macomb County leading the way, Michigan's concealed weapons law was changed six years ago to require county gun boards - which previously could deny permits for virtually any reason - to issue a permit to any adult who passed a safety course and did not have a criminal record or mental illness.
Gun-owning motorists must remove the holster and store the firearm unloaded in the trunk or other place far from reach when behind the wheel. Michigan is among 44 states where it's legal to carry a weapon in public with a permit. If the guns are holstered, they must be in plain view at all times, and legally purchased. Anyone purchasing a pistol must be at least 18 years old and register it with their local police department.
Gibson said open-carry is not a form of machismo. He said some in law enforcement aren't knowledgeable about gun laws in their own respective states, occasionally leading to disputes with local officials. Members who are detained are usually released after police check with their municipal attorney. "Here in my neighborhood, I open carry almost every day," said Gibson, who said he's been threatened with arrest.
Across the nation, gun rights advocates have gained new confidence from a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June that clarified that individuals have the right to keep guns in their homes for personal protection. The 5-4 decision overturned a 32-year-old handgun ban in Washington, D.C.
In a society where many people keep cellular phones and Blackberry units on their belt, the handgun on Gibson's hip usually doesn't stand out. Still, someone in a store occasionally will inquire if he's a cop. When he replies that he's "just an ordinary citizen," some will question why he feels the need to pack a pistol. His answer: to protect his family and practice his constitutional rights. "A right unexercised is a right lost," the married father said. "I hope and pray I never have to fire that thing at anything but the paper target at the (gun) range. But if I feel my life is threatened or my family's life is threatened, then yeah."
Gibson, a deer hunter who said he owns "several" rifles and shotguns, recalls firing a 12-gauge shotgun at age 4 with his father's guidance. The owner of a computer business, Gibson said he doesn't open carry when meeting with customers because he considers it inappropriate to display his advocacy to customers.
OpenCarry.org members acknowledge that it might be unnerving for some in public to see a group openly toting handguns. With that, members try to combat what they describe as a stigma that gun owners are lawbreakers. Founded in 2004 by Virginia residents Mike Stollenwerk and John Pierce, OpenCarry.org's Web site boasts more than 8,500 registered members and records 600,000 hits a month.
MACOMB[/b]DAILY[/b]
By Christy Strawser,Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Picnickers pack heat
Gun enthusiasts meet peacefully at Warren park to prove point
They came, they saw, they carried - and they didn't cause any problems.
Members of OpenCarry.org peacefully set up shop Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Warren to prove a point about the Second Amendment and Michigan's gun laws.About 75 gun enthusiasts strolled through the park throughout the afternoon with sidearms strapped to their belts in plain view.
The goal was to underscore that Michigan is among 44 states where it's legal to carry a gun in public without a permit, as long as it was legally purchased and registered. Concealed weapons permits are necessary for a hidden weapon.
At Veterans Park, the guns were all out there for the world to see, but everyone followed the law and kept them holstered. Men, and a few women, chatted at picnic tables in shorts and T-shirts, some grilled bratwurst and hot dogs while kids played on the Playscape, and a couple of teens rode skateboards.
"We're just having a picnic," organizer Ron Gibson said. "It's no different from any other day. The only difference is that we're carrying weapons." The quiet afternoon had only a single glitch, when one of the armed enthusiasts tried to walk to the park from his home in Warren. Police received a 911 call from a panicked woman about a man walking around with a gun. About 12 officers responded, but immediately sent the man on his way when he proved the gun was legally registered.
Police Commissioner William Dwyer said they "would have been remiss" not to stop the man and question him. The incident upset some members of the club, who said educating police about gun laws was one of their themes for the day. "It's about being educational without being confrontational," Gibson said. He had plenty of officers to discuss the incident with because Warren police were out in force. Police set up a mobile command station at the park, two officers in uniform walked the grounds, an undercover officer watched the crowd with binoculars from the parking lot, and Dwyer made a personal appearance to chat with participants.
The cops kept things friendly, explaining to club members they were there to protect them from "undesirables" who might try to show up with non-permitted weapons.
"We were nervous initially about who would show up," Capt. Scott Pavlik said. "We're just being careful, but it's been very orderly."
Mostly, the participants discussed how weapons save lives and deter crime by frightening criminals. "I can't carry at work, but if I'm going to the store or the coffee shop on weekends, I'll carry," said Brian Jeffs, a club member and senior geologist for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Similar demonstrations already played out in several states, and at least three Michigan cities - Flint, Grand Rapids and Hastings.
The message was well received in Warren, where about 20 people showed up just to learn more about the group and the law. Mike Miller of St. Clair Shores said he never thought about carrying his gun in public until he heard about OpenCarry.org, so he stopped by to get more information. "I think this (picnic) is a great idea," Miller said. "It shows that people are aware of what's happening with the law."
Carl Noechel lives down the street from the park, and he showed up to figure out why so many people were there with guns displayed. "It's different, but it doesn't bother me," he said. Club members were sure they garnered some new members for OpenCarry.org, which was founded in 2004 by Virginia residents Mike Stollenwerk and John Pierce.
The Web site has more than 8,500 registered members and gets 600,000 hits a month.
"The Michigan group has really taken hold," Jeffs said. "We get a couple of hundred hits a day."
http://annarborchronicle.com/2008/10/13/pistols-make-for-picnic-in-the-park
ANN ARBOR CHRONICLE
Pistols Make for Picnic in the Park
Picnickers advocate for open carry by openly carrying
By Dave Askins
October 13, 2008
On an unseasonably warm October Sunday afternoon at Ann Arbor’s Wheeler Park, supporters of the open carry of handguns gathered for a picnic, to demonstrate “what doesn’t happen” when people wear a handgun openly.
Brian Jeffs.
As The Chronicle approached one of the conversational pods, Ron Gibson made an effort to make us feel welcome, inviting us to join them in their meal of hot dogs, burgers, pasta salad, and powdered-sugar donuts. Gibson rarely makes a trip into Ann Arbor from his Washington Township home – but the organizer of this particular event, University of Michigan student Julian Lizzio, wanted to host a gathering close to where he’s currently living. Organization took place through an internet forum. Brian Jeffs, described by other picnickers as the “figurehead of the group,” said that similar events associated with this group date back to December 2007 in Brighton, which drew three people at a McDonald’s. A gathering in Warren, though, had brought out 75-100 people.
Lizzio was satisfied with the Ann Arbor turnout of around 25, saying that too much publicity in Ann Arbor might have been counterproductive. Maybe a half dozen local Ann Arbor residents dropped by only because they said they’d read about it in The Ann Arbor News, which had published an item previewing the event. One of those News readers was Bob Powell, who had recently completed requirements for his Concealed Pistol License, but was unfamiliar with open carry.
Asked if he’d decided who he was voting for in the upcoming election, Powell said he was going to vote for Obama – despite the fact that one of the picnic tables contained a display with National Rifle Association literature outlining the case against Obama. Powell said that overall he felt like Obama had a lot of good ideas and that he wasn’t going to let his position on firearms be the one determining factor.
The Chronicle didn’t conduct a scientific poll of the gathering, but took at face value Gibson’s response to our question, “Do you figure we could find some Obama supporters here?” Laughed Gibson, “Good luck!” So Powell was likely the only Obama supporter in the crowd.
Bob Powell and Doug Scott read about the open carry picnic in The Ann Arbor News and decided to check it out. Scott is holding a handout with the title: "You Can Openly Carry a Handgun in MIchigan."
But not everyone was necessarily voting for McCain. Lizzio said that he was mulling the possibility of voting for one of the third party candidates like Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party. Although the Libertarian Party best reflects Lizzio’s attitudes on Second Ammendment isses, he says that he’s not involved with the campus Libertarian Party, which is fielding a candidate for mayor of Ann Arbor (Eric Plourde) in this November’s election. The College Libertarians at UM have conducted a free handgun giveaway in the past, although the giveaway does not entail bringing a handgun onto the campus, which is a weapon-free zone as declared by the UM regents.
There are various other place restrictions on open carry – banks, churches, courts, theaters, sports arenas, day care centers, hospitals, bars. The basic requirements of open carry were summarized for The Chronicle by Gibson, collaborating with other picnickers, as follows:
In an open carry setting, it’s not legal to unholster a weapon to check to see if it’s loaded – but most of the picnickers could determine their weapon’s loading state through visual inspection in the holster. Gibson pointed out the contrast between a raised tab along the top of the barrel – indicating a round in the chamber – on his own pistol, and the flush tab on a fellow picnicker’s gun, which indicated no round in the chamber, even though there was a magazine loaded. Drawing a weapon requires the wearer to believe that they are in mortal danger.
Ron Gibson checks out a volume by Ted Nugent.
The picnickers by and large seemed prepared to live with the fact that there are plenty of situations where they won’t carry their weapons – some prescribed by rule, and others by social constraints. Brian Jeffs says that he doesn’t carry while working his job as a geologist for the State of Michigan, because his employer doesn’t allow it. And Ron Gibson said he was refused open carry at a graduation party in his own family, but rather than disrespect the graduate by not attending, he left his handgun at home. A smaller group of the picnickers were planning to head over to Maison Edwards tobacco shop in Nickels Arcade after the Wheeler Park gathering. They’d called ahead and said the owner didn’t mind the open carrying – as long as they bought some cigars.
One of the messages that the assembled picnickers wanted us to take away was that guns are not bad and that people who own them are not bad people. “We’re not criminals,” said one picnicker. He fessed up to one infraction a couple of decades ago that resulted in a night in jail: public urination (in his own yard), which was recorded as indecent exposure. There’s something to be said about the importance of keeping things holstered, and yes, that joke was made.
Looking for an alternative view on the open carrying at Wheeler Park, The Chronicle spotted a woman in a big pink floppy hat sitting on a bench in the middle of the park soaking up the sun, and pegged her as a neighbor who would deliver just the anti-open-carrying quote that we needed to provide some balance. Nope. It was Charlotte Reaume – she’d accompanied her husband, who was over in the shade under the shelter. Reaume is a candidate for Monroe County sheriff in November’s election. Her recollections of a career in law enforcement patrolling Conrail railyards with a black German shepherd named Prince filled out the rest of The Chronicle’s afternoon at Wheeler Park.
A: Is there a round in the chamber or not?
B: Is there a round in the chamber or not?
A grill full of Koegel's at the open carry picnic.
http://www.mlive.com/annarbornews/news/index.ssf/2008/10/attendees_at_ann_arbor_picnic.html
Attendees at Ann Arbor picnic pack more than their lunches
by Tom Gantert | The Ann Arbor News
Monday October 13, 2008, 7:11 AM
Eliyahu Gurfinkel | The Ann Arbor NewsRandy Graham of Burton tends to the grill while wearing his Glock handgun at a picnic at Wheeler Park in Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon. The picnic was hosted by proponents of the open carrying of firearms.
In many ways, it was a typical picnic on a beautiful Sunday in an Ann Arbor park - hot dogs, potato chips and hamburgers.
Except for the fact it was BYOG.
That's BYOG as in bring your own gun.
For Julian Lizzio, a 21-year-old University of Michigan student, that meant packing a nickel-plated Colt .38-caliber pistol.
Lizzio helped organize a rally for about 50 people at Wheeler Park at Sunday at 1 p.m. in favor of exercising their legal right to openly wear a firearm in public. About 20 people wore weapons in holsters. In Michigan, it's legal to carry a loaded pistol openly, but a concealed weapons permit is needed to carry a gun that's hidden.
Eliyahu Gurfinkel | Ann Arbor NewsJulian Lizzio, a University of Michigan senior, talks to a reporter during a picnic at Ann Arbor 's Wheeler Park that he helped organize to promote the open carrying of handguns.
"When people say, 'Why do you carry a gun?' I'm a little speechless," Lizzio said. "Why wouldn't you?"
Sgt. Ed Stuck said Ann Arbor police received one call Sunday from a citizen reporting there were people in Wheeler Park with guns.
Stuck said the city attorney's office ruled that it is legal to have a weapon in a holster in the open. Many of the advocates Sunday refused to take their weapon out of their holster when asked.
"The only time you draw that weapon out in public is if you use it," said Brian Jeffs of Bath. "That's why you won't see anyone handling their gun."
Doug Holloway made the trip to Wheeler Park from his home in Westland. Most of the people who attended were members of the OpenCarry.org, a national organization formed in 2004, to promote the right to carry a gun in the open.
Holloway said he carries his Sig Sauer 4SW handgun for protection.
When asked when he felt threatened enough to need a gun, Holloway said last winter when a man was "aggressively" approaching him outside a party store.
"He asked me for change and he kept getting closer and closer," said Holloway, who was unarmed at the time. "He had his hands down by his side. I just told him to back up and stay away. He backed up."
Holloway said if he had been openly carrying his handgun, the man never would have approached him.
Lizzio said he was caught weaponless two years ago in Ann Arbor when he was chased by a drunken homeless person waving a broken bottle.
"Muggers can say, 'This looks a little riskier than I would like,'" he said.
Lizzio says he does not carry his gun to school, but feels his group would win in court if he challenged U-M over its ban on carrying weapons.
Jeffs has been a regular at the gun picnics since they started in Brighton last December. He said four people showed up openly armed at the McDonalds in Brighton and "never had a problem."
But the open gun advocates have their tales of harassment.
Jeffs said he was kicked out of Barnes and Noble in East Lansing on Saturday for openly carrying his .357 Magnum revolver at a Ted Nugent book signing. Jeffs said he demanded a refund for Nugent's book.
Jeffs said he thinks he could go his whole life without needing a firearm for protection. He carries it because it is his right. "I'm sick and tired of being told what to do by a police state," Jeffs said.
Sometimes it is the police. Other times, it is just business owners, as Lizzio found out Sunday before the picnic.
Lizzio went into Main Street Party Store to buy items for the picnic wearing his gun on his hip.
The manager told him not to do it anymore.
Dave Breher, manager at Main Street Party Store, said he'd rather give up the money if an armed robber came into the store than risk a gunfight happening in his store.
"It makes me uncomfortable," Breher said. "Why would anyone carry a firearm except to use it?"
"But you got to remember," Lizzio said. "No guns. No money. ... And I spend a lot of money there." When Breher was told he could lose a gun-toting customer, he said, "That's fine."
Tom Gantert can be reached at tgantert@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6701.
Jackson area police receive several calls about residents carrying sidearms
by Steven Hepker | Jackson Citizen Patriot
Monday April 27, 2009, 2:17 PM
An apparent organized flexing of Second Amendment rights last weekend was a bit too Wild West for some local citizens and business owners.
Police and deputies responded to a number of complaints about citizens packing sidearms at restaurants, stores and other public areas.
None of the gun carriers was cited.
Michigan's 2001 shall-issue concealed weapons law greatly increased the number of citizens packing handguns. The public, however, does not notice the guns because they are hidden under clothing.
But a shopper with a handgun on his hip in Target is another matter. Security officers followed the man Saturday and contacted city police.
"One of our officers had contact with the man in the parking lot, and that was the end of it," Lt. Christopher Simpson said. "He was carrying legally."
Blackman Township officers responded to reports of a diner with a handgun in a hip holster at Bob Evans Restaurant on West Avenue, and another with a visible sidearm at Wal-Mart on E. Michigan Avenue.
"We verified they were legitimate side carries," Blackman Township Public Safety Director Jon Johnston said.
While the appearance of citizens carrying weapons is unsettling to some, it also is an expression of freedom.
"Sometimes it is a matter of educating the public that this is a constitutional right," Johnston said. "We do not take enforcement action against those who obey the law."
Sheriff's deputies, meanwhile, were called to Vandercook Lake to check out two suspicious males, each carrying a handgun on his side.
It was a father and son, and the father also was packing two concealed handguns, sheriff's Capt. Kevin Stellingworth said. The father has a concealed-weapons permit.
Stellingworth and Undersheriff Thomas Finco said that citizens who exercise the right to carry guns openly should realize it alarms the public and police.
"It hypes people up to see someone carrying a gun," Finco said. "What people don't realize is it is perfectly legal."
Aside from designated pistol-free areas, such as schools, bars, stadiums, churches and hospitals, most public and private areas in Michigan are open to both concealed weapons and open sidearms.
Stellingworth said law officers and business owners cannot become complacent regarding citizens showing weapons.
Because more citizens are choosing to carry weapons in public, police trainers are addressing that by incorporating scenarios in which officers approach those who could be exercising a right, or are up to no good.
Gun group targets litter
By Catherine Kavanaugh, Daily Tribune Staff Writer
FERNDALE — Lawrence Morton was surprised to see a pistol-packing, cleanup crew bagging litter along Woodward Avenue as he waited Saturday at a bus stop.
"It doesn't seem like there's a need for it here," the Detroit resident said of the men with firearms in holsters. "No one does that in my neighborhood."
When asked if he knew of anyone who carried a concealed weapon in his neighborhood, Morton just laughed.
The 10 members of Michigan Open Carry, Inc., a nonprofit, pro-firearms organization, raised some eyebrows as they tried to raise awareness about the right for anyone age 18 or older to openly carry a legally registered handgun.
"It's a little known law," Ferndale Lt. Bill Wilson said. "They use it to test rookies. They'll ask: What do you do if you see someone with a six-shooter strapped to his waist. The answer better be nothing or the rookie needs remedial training.
"If they are not brandishing it in a threatening way or going inside a bar, bank or school, which are some of the prohibitions, they are not breaking any law."
MOC President Brian Jeffs wore a 9 mm handgun in plain view as he handed out garbage bags in the parking lot of Ferndale Foods.
"We want to get people used to this," the Bath resident said.
"We're trying to make Michigan more like Arizona."
MOC's objectives are to desensitize the public — and some police — about seeing people walking down the streets with guns around their waists; to demonstrate gun owners are lawful and shouldn't be feared; and to protect themselves.
"It's like wearing a seatbelt or having car insurance," Jeffs said. "It's preventative, it's a precaution and it tends to deter crime."
Doug Holloway of Westland said he thinks he is safer openly carrying his firearm than someone who has a permit for a concealed weapon.
"A criminal will go after the softer target with the concealed pistol," he added.
But Carissa Gaden didn't notice any of the guns strapped around the MOC members as they walked down Nine Mile Road to Woodward. She was out with some students from Ferndale Middle School raising money for the music program. The fundraisers did recall the men donating some pocket change.
"I noticed their bright safety vests and I thought they were construction workers," Gaden said. "If I had seen their guns it would have freaked me out. Anyone with a gun around my children would make me uncomfortable."
MOC members often are challenged by people like Gaden when they gather for picnics or community service projects, Jeffs said. He also walks around armed with a brochure called "You can openly carry a handgun in Michigan" to explain the law.
"Once people learn this is legal they usually are indifferent," Jeffs said. "We've put in thousands of hours of open carry in Michigan to get out the word."
Police said they didn't get any complaints while the MOC members, who were cleaning sidewalks and medians north to Birmingham, were in Ferndale.
"I did expect people to call," Wilson said. "It's fairly common in other parts of the country but you don't see it around here. Part of the justification is you are telling everyone I have a gun and I will use it for protection. Right or wrong it makes sense."
Craig Gaffield/Daily Tribune From left, Mike Bostwick, Zachary Bostwick, Doug Holloway, Savannah Meadows and Dan Meadows of the Michigan Open Carry pro-firearms organization collect and bag litter in Ferndale Saturday.
Cleanup also to promote right to openly carry firearms.
CG Festival gun carrier files federal civil suit
Wed, May 13, 2009
BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com
An attorney representing a man who was charged with carrying a gun at last year's Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven has filed a lawsuit, claiming the incident violated his client's civil rights.
Steven Dulan filed the civil rights suit in federal court in Grand Rapids on March 5 over the city's open-carry ordinance, according to Justia.com. The suit seeks $600,000.
Dulan represents Christopher Fetters, a 21-year-old off-duty U.S. Air Force security officer from Freeport who was arrested by Grand Haven Department of Public Safety officers on Aug. 2, 2008, for carrying a Glock 40 handgun in a holster at his side in downtown Grand Haven. Police said they disarmed Fetters, arrested him on a misdemeanor charge, issued a 90-day court appearance ticket and allowed him to leave without the gun.
While Michigan law allows carrying concealed weapons with a permit, Grand Haven has a local ordinance prohibiting openly possessing and carrying dangerous weapons in public, a GHDPS official said at the time. People carrying weapons can be frightening and the department received several verbal complaints about the man, a department official said.
However, the city dismissed the charges in late August and the gun was returned to Fetters.
GHDPS Capt. Rick Yonker said then that it appeared the city ordinance was unenforceable under Michigan law, and the state law regarding openly carrying firearms pre-empts local ordinances.
"In most cases, a city ordinance can be more restrictive than state law," Yonker said at the time. "But in this case, that does not apply."
The decision to drop the charge came after research of case law by the city's attorney suggested the ordinance would not hold up in court, Yonker said. The officers acted in good faith and were enforcing the ordinance, Yonker said, but the city decided not to continue with the case.
"No allegations were ever made that Mr. Fetters ever threatened anyone, or in any other way disturbed the peace on the day of his arrest," Dulan stated in the announcement of the suit on Tuesday. "He is demanding damages for violation of his civil rights as a citizen of the United States and of Michigan."
The suit names Yonker, GHDPS Director Dennis Edwards, former GHDPS Lt. Mark Reiss, Lt. Mike Brookhouse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, the city, the county and its Sheriff's Department, and a couple of "unknown parties" as defendants.
A message left at Dulan's East Lansing office this morning was not immediately returned. No city officials were available for comment this morning.
The federal case number is 1:09-CV-00190. It was assigned to Judge Robert H. Bell.
On the Net:
http://dockets.justia.com
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/06/handguncarrying_advocates_plan.html
Handgun-carrying advocates plan picnic
by Rex Hall Jr. | Kalamazoo Gazette
Friday June 05, 2009, 10:32 PM
KALAMAZOO -- Food and firearms will go hand in hand Sunday at Bronson Park during an afternoon picnic hosted by the pro-Second Amendment group OpenCarry.org.
The Open Carry Picnic, from 1 to 4 p.m., is meant to teach residents and raise awareness about the legal right to openly carry a handgun in Michigan, said Josh Tishhouse, a member of the national group.
The event also is in response to three incidents that, according to Tishhouse, have occurred locally in the last six weeks involving members of OpenCarry.org who were detained by either Kalamazoo or Portage police and later released.
"It's mostly to show we are a nonconfrontational group," he said. "We're just exercising a constitutional right."
The event will be similar to recent gatherings the group held previously in Ann Arbor and Hastings. The group also hosted a "meet-and-eat" event this year at Theo & Stacy's on South Westnedge Avenue.
Police don't plan to have officers at the event, but they do plan to monitor it as needed with on-duty personnel, said Capt. Brian Uridge of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
"From all the information that we have, we believe it is going to be a peaceful event," Uridge said.
It is legal to openly carry a loaded pistol in Michigan, but a permit is needed to carry a concealed weapon.
Tishhouse said between 17 and 19 members have confirmed they plan to attend the picnic, and some of them will be traveling from areas of the state that include Ann Arbor and Detroit.
The event is free and open to the general public and members of OpenCarry.org. Tishhouse said attendees are not required to openly carry a firearm to take part in the picnic.
Organizers are asking for anyone who comes to the picnic to bring a dish to pass, their own soft drinks and tableware.
Rex Hall Jr. can be reached at rhall@kalamazoogazette.com or (269) 388-7784.
Gun owners show support for open-carry law at picnic in Kalamazoo
by Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette
Monday June 08, 2009, 10:15 AM
John A. Lacko | Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette
Rob Grinage and Josh Tishhouse, both of Kalamazoo, work on cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs during the Open Carry Picnic in Bronson Park Sunday afternoon.
KALAMAZOO -- It resembled most any Sunday afternoon picnic in Bronson Park. Except most of the people assembled around tables filled with watermelon and grilled goodies had firearms in holsters strapped to their waists.
http://www.opencarry.org.
For Tishhouse, openly carrying a weapon is a matter of self-defense. But he says Americans also need to exercise their constitutional rights to the lawful ownership of firearms or risk losing them.
"I hope never, ever to have to draw this," Tishhouse said. "But I absolutely believe it's a deterrent. If somebody's looking for a soft target to mug and they see you have a weapon, they're not likely to pick you."
According to Michigan Open Carry, any resident 18 or older who owns a legally registered handgun may openly carry that firearm in a holster.
The fact that the handgun is registered means the owner has passed a criminal background check. And many Open Carry members also have permits for concealed weapons that they say required additional scrutiny.
There are restrictions if you do not have a concealed-carry permit. Tishhouse said it's unlawful to possess a firearm in a bank, church, theater, sports arena, day-care center, hospital or any establishment licensed to sell liquor. Property owners also can impose their own firearms restrictions.
The purpose of the event was to educate the public about openly carrying firearms within the State of Michigan.
Ryan Ransom, a Coloma High School automotive technology teacher, said people who open-carry their handguns often are assumed to be off-duty police officers.
And although Ransom said he has never been confronted by a civilian for wearing his 9 mm pistol, some police officers have been unaware of the laws that allow it and have questioned him.
Stephanie Grinage says people in their Edison neighborhood refer to her husband, Robert, as "Wyatt Earp," an iconic 1800s Western lawman. Robert often walks their dog with his holstered firearm in full view.
The owner of a neighborhood convenience store refers to the pair as "my friends," she explained, after a "shady" man eyeing the cash register left the establishment one day when the openly armed Grinages stopped to make a purchase.
Stephanie Grinage has a concealed weapons permit that allows her to keep her Smith & Wesson .38 Special tucked in her purse.
"The weight of a gun around my waist pulls my pants down," she mused.
For the young housewife who is often home alone, her gun is about protection.
"I don't want to feel powerless," said Grinage, who still suffers from the scars of a physical assault when she was 18. "I want to be able to protect myself and not worry about the cops showing up too late."
People milling around at Sunday's event said they're not all the stereotypical conservatives criticized by Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign for "clinging" to their guns.
"I don't identify myself as a Democrat or a Republican," Tishhouse said. "I consider myself a constitutionalist.
"If you want to know the truth, I voted for Obama."
Getting the word out
By MICHAEL PETERSON Argus-Press Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:40 AM EDT
Argus-Press Photo by Anthony Cepak
Members of the group Michigan Open Carry, Inc. gather at Collamer Park in Owosso for a picnic Sunday to generate awareness in the community about Michigan concealed weapons laws and the Second Amendment.
OWOSSO - It may not be a well-known fact, but it is legal to openly carry a handgun in Michigan - and members of a newly-formed organization are hoping to get the word out.
Michigan Open Carry, Inc. held a picnic at noon Sunday in Collamer Park, during which members offered not only food, but information regarding their organization and the state's firearm laws.
“We just want to get the word out about open carry and that it is legal,” MOP President Brian Jeffs, of Bath, said. “For us, open carry is like a ‘Beware of Dog' sign in our front yard. It shows that we are a hard target.”
He explained while it is legal to openly carry, there are still some restrictions. For one, the gun needs to be in a pouch if it is not going to be concealed. Also, not having a concealed-pistol license can restrict the type of areas a person can go while brandishing a firearm - such as a bank, court, theater, hospital, church or any establishment that sells liquor.
While the nonprofit group was officially formed in April, the first seeds were planted when Jeffs and others began frequenting http://www.opencarry.org, an Internet forum created by Virginia gun-rights activitists to educate people on Second Amendment rights.
So when he and a handful of others created the group, they wanted to help spread the word on a state level. However, they also wanted the activism to be non-confrontational - hence, the picnics.
Sunday's picnic was no different than any other typical picnic - excluding the fact that many attending had firearms attached to their hips. There were fishing and hot dogs, and open carry information was available to anyone who wanted it.
“People come, get information and go. Or they will have something to eat and talk a little bit with us to see that we are not all crazies,” Jeffs said.
Secretary Christina Florence of Frankenmuth said the key to understanding open carrying is to educate people about it. And she should know - she used to hate the idea of guns.
“I never grew up with guns, so it was a scary thing at first,” Florence said. “And also having a daughter around made it a little more intimidating. But now that I am more educated about it, I have no problem with it.”
Another roadblock for the group has been the realization some municipalities have laws in direct violation of open carry.
“The state has ruled that local municipalities cannot enforce gun-control laws that are more restrictive than the state's,” Jeffs said. “A lot of municipalities have these laws in their books, but they are not enforceable.”
Because of this, MOP has been contacting those cities to make them aware of the violations.
Owosso resident Nathan Spencer said it was curiosity that brought him out to the picnic, but added he already knew Michigan's open carry laws.
“I've been carrying a gun for 60 years - concealed and open,” Spencer said.
He added he thought what the group was doing was a good thing, because he has seen a noticeable change in attitudes toward firearms in recent years.
“A lot of people are afraid if they carry in public that the cops are going to harass or bother them,” he said.
Lansing StateJournal
December 2, 2007 By Brian Jeffs
Jeffs: Mich. is among states that allow citizens to openly carry handguns
Some restrictions do apply, but citizens have right to carry.
A movement is growing nationwide as more residents are exerting a right that is not often exercised. That right is the open carry of a handgun for all lawful purposes. Forty-four states allow the open carry of a handgun by adults who can lawfully own one. Few realize, including some in law enforcement, that Michigan is one of these states.
One does not need a concealed pistol license to open carry, but it makes it easier to do so. In Michigan, non-CPL holders can only transport an unloaded handgun secured in a case or in the trunk of their vehicle under specific conditions defined by law (MCL 750.227).
CPL holders, however, can transport a loaded handgun in their vehicle or on their person, either concealed or openly. CPL holders can carry or transport a handgun registered to another person as long as the handgun is lawfully owned and registered in Michigan (MCL Act 372, 28.432). A non-CPL holder can only carry a handgun that is registered in their name. If one spouse is a CPL holder and the other is not, the CPL holding spouse can transport the other's handgun as well as their own. Once the non-CPL holding spouse leaves the vehicle they can carry their loaded handgun openly. This method can be employed by non-relatives as well. A non-CPL holder must unload and secure his handgun before entering a vehicle.
Why open carry? One reason is that an adult under 21 years of age can not get a CPL in Michigan, but the law allows them to openly carry. A second reason is that a person may not be able to afford the high cost of the initial permit, which can exceed $300.
Before deciding to openly carry a handgun, it behooves you to research Michigan firearm laws ([url]http://www.michigan.gov/msp[/url]). There are restrictions in which a person can possess a firearm. These restrictions vary slightly for concealed carry and open carry. These restrictions can be found inMCL 28.424o and 750.234d. Game laws also exist that restrict times and areas a firearm can be carried.
Michigan has a firearm preemption law that disallows local municipalities from passing laws more restrictive than the state without state approval. This allows open carry in any city as well as most municipal buildings. Most federal property has restrictions on firearm possession. A review of federal firearm laws is recommended. Additionally, private property owners can restrict firearms in their building and on their property. If you are asked to leave private property, you must do so or face a trespass charge.
Openly carrying a firearm has restrictions and is not for everyone. Become familiar with firearm laws and the use of deadly force. Carrying a firearm is a great responsibility each person must consider. For those wishing to carry a firearm for protection and all lawful purposes, though, it is an option worth looking into. Remember, a right not exercised is a right lost.
The Flint Journal: Saturday June 14, 2008,
Openly carrying their guns, group touts unorthodox beliefs at Burton park
by Melissa Burden
BURTON, Michigan -- Pistols in their holsters and holsters on their hips, a small group of people who believe in the right to openly carry -- loaded handguns, that is -- met today at Kelly Lake Park for a picnic and spread the word about their unorthodox beliefs.
"We don't do this for attention or to show off," said retired postal worker Jerry Brewer, 55, of Owosso. "We just purely want to educate." State of Michigan geologist Brian Jeffs, 50, of Bath Township near Lansing has openly carried his 9mm semiautomatic Smith & Wesson for the past eight months, while Nathan Nephew, 21, of Frankenmuth, who works in information technology, claims he openly carries his handgun to protect himself and his loved ones.
And what they are doing is legal, as long as the handguns they are carrying are visible and stay in their holsters, said Burton Police Chief John Benthall. Brandishing the weapon would be breaking the law, Benthall said. "I have researched this every way I can and I cannot find any law against it," he said.
Brewer, Nephew andJeffs are all members of theonline community at http://www.opencarry.org, a pro-gun Web site that claims thousands of registered members across the U.S. At about noon, a group of about six open-carry advocates gathered in a picnic area in the nearly empty park, with just an angler or two across the lake.
Jeffs said the open-carry group grew to about 16 or 17 later in the afternoon and that a few park-goers stopped to ask questions.Benthall said Friday that Burton police weren't going to react to the group meeting in public, nor have a police presence at the park, unless they received a call.Benthall said he had contact with members of opencarry.org about an open carry and meeting in Burton. "I haven't given them permission," Benthall said. "I personally don't think this is a good idea. I think this is going to frighten people who don't understand that is legal."
Jeffs said he and others who post on opencarry.org want to help the public become more aware and more accustomed to seeing people openly carrying handguns, knowing that it is legal and that "you shouldn't necessarily feel threatened and call the police."Jeffs said he takes his 9mm with him on the weekends when he heads into Lansing to shop or stop by a coffee shop. "I'm doing it for the fact that I want to exercise a right," he said. Brewer, who hosts "Saturday Afternoon Shootout" with his son, Steve, every other Saturday at 3 p.m. on http://www.FlintTalkRadio.com., said he's had few questions when out in public with his gun on his hip, including some from law enforcement.
The Michigan group has met a few times in the past six months or so, openly packing their pistols, including at a Flint Township McDonald's. Nephew, who came to the picnic with his live-in girlfriend, Christina Florence, 24, and her daughter,Kayleeanna Florence, 3, claimed carrying the weapon is a deterrent to being mugged or attacked. Florence said she was apprehensive about guns for a time, having not grown up with them around, but feels safer with Nephew carrying his. She also has a concealed permit, but doesn't openly carry. But they are careful with the weapon and feel safe carrying it around Kayleeanna, Nephew and Florence said. "It's either in my holster or it's locked up," Nephew said.
Detroit Free Press
Gun owners show their metal in Hastings
About 40 stroll for 2nd Amendment
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU CHIEF • July 25, 2008
HASTINGS -- Most of us probably don't know it, but Michigan is among the 44 states where it's legal to carry a gun in public without a permit.
To make that point, about 40 gun advocates walked out of Richie's Koffee Shop Inc. late Thursday afternoon with handguns holstered at their sides, part of a small but growing national movement to stand up for the constitutional right to bear arms. They strolled down this tidy west Michigan town's main street, barely causing a stir among passing motorists and pedestrians. When they finished, the group -- mostly white men -- gathered around a fountain at the Barry County Courthouse and heard a red-meat, pro-Second Amendment speech by organizer Skip Coryell, 50, who wore his .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun openly for the first time and extolled the virtues of carrying a weapon.
"Look at all the people around you carrying guns and not a criminal in sight," said Coryell, a gun instructor and self-styled publisher who lives near Holland. "Quite frankly, I don't feel criminals would feel comfortable among us right now." He said educating people about their right to carry guns openly is the "next wave of the Second Amendment."
The event, tinged with local gun politics, was the latest statement from gun advocates around the country to promote and defend the open toting of handguns. Earlier this summer, a small group caused a minor stir when they showed up to picnic at a park near Flint wearing holsters on their hips. On Sunday, 10 people made headlines in Boise, Idaho, when they carried handguns into the local zoo.
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, the largest U.S. gun control organization, said he doesn't dispute the legal right to carry weapons openly but thinks those who demonstrate for such rights are pushy and aggressive. "Their No. 1 mission seems to be making other people nervous," he said. "That's a little childish. Of all the issues that need volunteerism in this country, in Michigan, in Detroit, you'd think people would find a more useful way to use their volunteer hours than walking around showing they have a gun."
Organizers said they were defying Hastings Police Chief Jerry Sarver, whom they say wants to stifle their gun rights. Sarver, who's running for Barry County sheriff, denies that he wants to step on anyone's rights and acknowledged that Michigan law allows people to carry their handguns in a holster. "We're not going to interfere with them," Sarver said before the rally. "I think that's what they want."
The event was heavily promoted on the Web site OpenCarry.org, the premier place on the Internet for those who like their pistols at their side. Web site cofounder Mike Stollenwerk, a retired Army officer, said he and partner John Pierce started the site in 2004 out of a mutual interest in U.S. gun laws. "It's a couple of geeky guys who put together some maps and a database, and it became a movement," Stollenwerk said. Stollenwerk said the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that assured the right of individuals to own and carry guns stoked some interest in the open-carry movement, but he added that it's been growing on its own.
His Web site has more than 8,500 registered members and has been attracting 600,000 visitors a month, he said. The Hastings event was posted, and this week Stollenwerk issued a news release about it that suggested a looming confrontation in the streets. It didn't happen.
Heather Reed, 37, of Middleville, an unemployed animal-control officer, was among about a half dozen women who participated in Thursday's event. "I enjoy the freedom of the Second Amendment and I want to make a point that women ought to be able to defend themselves," said Reed, who packed an inoperable two-shot black powder antique derringer she had borrowed. "Right now I can't afford the .38 I want."
Another gun toter was Alex Walden, 73, a retired dairy farmer who lives near Hastings and often carries his .32 caliber pistol with him in his holster. He said it makes him feel safer.
About 155,000 Michiganders -- about one in every 75 -- have permits to carry concealed weapons. They must first pass an approved gun safety course -- something those who carry their weapons in the open aren't required to do.
Carrying a gun openly in public doesn't require a permit, though people who want to purchase a handgun must fill out a form and turn it in to their local police or sheriff's department. The police agency is to check the buyer's background and issue a permit good for 10 days, according to the Michigan State Police Web site.
In 2002, Michigan's law changed to require county gun boards to issue concealed weapon permits to adults who passed an approved safety course and did not have criminal records. Prior to the change, gun boards could deny permits for any reason.
Dave Stevens, 56, a high school teacher and an NRA instructor with a shooting range in his backyard, holds a concealed weapons permit and usually would rather carry his handgun out of sight. "I don't want to advertise. You make yourself a target if you do." Still, on Thursday, he carried a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic in the open.
While the event brought some business to the restaurant where she works, Desarai Haight, 23, a waitress at Richie's, said it left her a little nervous. "I think there should be some kind of screening or test to make sure people who carryweapons are of sound mind," she said.
Macomb Daily
[/b]Thursday, August 14, 2008
By Norb Franz, Staff Writer
'Open carry' group to gather
Guns on hips, advocates to meet in Warren
Ron Gibson carries a semi-automatic pistol on his hip for anyone to see, and insists he's not out to intimidate. When he goes to bed, the .45 caliber firearm is nearby and loaded. “Just because I'm carrying a gun, I shouldn't be viewed as a threat. I don't bring any attention to it whatsoever," he said.
Gibson is among about three dozen members of a gun rights group who will "pack" a picnic with their families Saturday afternoon in Warren. They are part of a growing movement of advocates promoting the Second Amendment and the open carrying of handguns. The group, members of OpenCarry.org, invites the public to stop by at Veterans Memorial Park, on Campbell at Martin Road, and ask questions or pick up a pamphlet. But don't look for them to fire shots into the sky - or even take their weapons out of the holster.
It's the first public event in Macomb County for the gun proponents, following other gatherings around Michigan - the most recent in Hastings. None of the events has caused much of a stir, but still raised a few eyebrows. "Our goal is to be educational without being confrontational," said Gibson, 38, of Washington Township. Pat Glide, salesman at Michi-Gun in St. Clair Shores, said most customers are knowledgeable about Michigan's right-to-carry gun laws. "We get asked questions on a daily basis," he said.
Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer said Wednesday his department is aware of Saturday's picnic. "We don't believe there are going to be any problems. We feel they certainly have a right to do what they're doing," he said. Still, Warren police plan to monitor it. Dispatchers have been advised about the picnic and how to handle any 911 calls. Dwyer refused to divulge details of an operational order he has issued for officers Saturday. "Hopefully it will be a peaceful picnic," he added.
With Macomb County leading the way, Michigan's concealed weapons law was changed six years ago to require county gun boards - which previously could deny permits for virtually any reason - to issue a permit to any adult who passed a safety course and did not have a criminal record or mental illness.
Gun-owning motorists must remove the holster and store the firearm unloaded in the trunk or other place far from reach when behind the wheel. Michigan is among 44 states where it's legal to carry a weapon in public with a permit. If the guns are holstered, they must be in plain view at all times, and legally purchased. Anyone purchasing a pistol must be at least 18 years old and register it with their local police department.
Gibson said open-carry is not a form of machismo. He said some in law enforcement aren't knowledgeable about gun laws in their own respective states, occasionally leading to disputes with local officials. Members who are detained are usually released after police check with their municipal attorney. "Here in my neighborhood, I open carry almost every day," said Gibson, who said he's been threatened with arrest.
Across the nation, gun rights advocates have gained new confidence from a landmark Supreme Court ruling in June that clarified that individuals have the right to keep guns in their homes for personal protection. The 5-4 decision overturned a 32-year-old handgun ban in Washington, D.C.
In a society where many people keep cellular phones and Blackberry units on their belt, the handgun on Gibson's hip usually doesn't stand out. Still, someone in a store occasionally will inquire if he's a cop. When he replies that he's "just an ordinary citizen," some will question why he feels the need to pack a pistol. His answer: to protect his family and practice his constitutional rights. "A right unexercised is a right lost," the married father said. "I hope and pray I never have to fire that thing at anything but the paper target at the (gun) range. But if I feel my life is threatened or my family's life is threatened, then yeah."
Gibson, a deer hunter who said he owns "several" rifles and shotguns, recalls firing a 12-gauge shotgun at age 4 with his father's guidance. The owner of a computer business, Gibson said he doesn't open carry when meeting with customers because he considers it inappropriate to display his advocacy to customers.
OpenCarry.org members acknowledge that it might be unnerving for some in public to see a group openly toting handguns. With that, members try to combat what they describe as a stigma that gun owners are lawbreakers. Founded in 2004 by Virginia residents Mike Stollenwerk and John Pierce, OpenCarry.org's Web site boasts more than 8,500 registered members and records 600,000 hits a month.
MACOMB[/b]DAILY[/b]
By Christy Strawser,Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Picnickers pack heat
Gun enthusiasts meet peacefully at Warren park to prove point
They came, they saw, they carried - and they didn't cause any problems.
Members of OpenCarry.org peacefully set up shop Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park in Warren to prove a point about the Second Amendment and Michigan's gun laws.About 75 gun enthusiasts strolled through the park throughout the afternoon with sidearms strapped to their belts in plain view.
The goal was to underscore that Michigan is among 44 states where it's legal to carry a gun in public without a permit, as long as it was legally purchased and registered. Concealed weapons permits are necessary for a hidden weapon.
At Veterans Park, the guns were all out there for the world to see, but everyone followed the law and kept them holstered. Men, and a few women, chatted at picnic tables in shorts and T-shirts, some grilled bratwurst and hot dogs while kids played on the Playscape, and a couple of teens rode skateboards.
"We're just having a picnic," organizer Ron Gibson said. "It's no different from any other day. The only difference is that we're carrying weapons." The quiet afternoon had only a single glitch, when one of the armed enthusiasts tried to walk to the park from his home in Warren. Police received a 911 call from a panicked woman about a man walking around with a gun. About 12 officers responded, but immediately sent the man on his way when he proved the gun was legally registered.
Police Commissioner William Dwyer said they "would have been remiss" not to stop the man and question him. The incident upset some members of the club, who said educating police about gun laws was one of their themes for the day. "It's about being educational without being confrontational," Gibson said. He had plenty of officers to discuss the incident with because Warren police were out in force. Police set up a mobile command station at the park, two officers in uniform walked the grounds, an undercover officer watched the crowd with binoculars from the parking lot, and Dwyer made a personal appearance to chat with participants.
The cops kept things friendly, explaining to club members they were there to protect them from "undesirables" who might try to show up with non-permitted weapons.
"We were nervous initially about who would show up," Capt. Scott Pavlik said. "We're just being careful, but it's been very orderly."
Mostly, the participants discussed how weapons save lives and deter crime by frightening criminals. "I can't carry at work, but if I'm going to the store or the coffee shop on weekends, I'll carry," said Brian Jeffs, a club member and senior geologist for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Similar demonstrations already played out in several states, and at least three Michigan cities - Flint, Grand Rapids and Hastings.
The message was well received in Warren, where about 20 people showed up just to learn more about the group and the law. Mike Miller of St. Clair Shores said he never thought about carrying his gun in public until he heard about OpenCarry.org, so he stopped by to get more information. "I think this (picnic) is a great idea," Miller said. "It shows that people are aware of what's happening with the law."
Carl Noechel lives down the street from the park, and he showed up to figure out why so many people were there with guns displayed. "It's different, but it doesn't bother me," he said. Club members were sure they garnered some new members for OpenCarry.org, which was founded in 2004 by Virginia residents Mike Stollenwerk and John Pierce.
The Web site has more than 8,500 registered members and gets 600,000 hits a month.
"The Michigan group has really taken hold," Jeffs said. "We get a couple of hundred hits a day."
http://annarborchronicle.com/2008/10/13/pistols-make-for-picnic-in-the-park
ANN ARBOR CHRONICLE
Pistols Make for Picnic in the Park
Picnickers advocate for open carry by openly carrying
By Dave Askins
October 13, 2008
On an unseasonably warm October Sunday afternoon at Ann Arbor’s Wheeler Park, supporters of the open carry of handguns gathered for a picnic, to demonstrate “what doesn’t happen” when people wear a handgun openly.
Brian Jeffs.
As The Chronicle approached one of the conversational pods, Ron Gibson made an effort to make us feel welcome, inviting us to join them in their meal of hot dogs, burgers, pasta salad, and powdered-sugar donuts. Gibson rarely makes a trip into Ann Arbor from his Washington Township home – but the organizer of this particular event, University of Michigan student Julian Lizzio, wanted to host a gathering close to where he’s currently living. Organization took place through an internet forum. Brian Jeffs, described by other picnickers as the “figurehead of the group,” said that similar events associated with this group date back to December 2007 in Brighton, which drew three people at a McDonald’s. A gathering in Warren, though, had brought out 75-100 people.
Lizzio was satisfied with the Ann Arbor turnout of around 25, saying that too much publicity in Ann Arbor might have been counterproductive. Maybe a half dozen local Ann Arbor residents dropped by only because they said they’d read about it in The Ann Arbor News, which had published an item previewing the event. One of those News readers was Bob Powell, who had recently completed requirements for his Concealed Pistol License, but was unfamiliar with open carry.
Asked if he’d decided who he was voting for in the upcoming election, Powell said he was going to vote for Obama – despite the fact that one of the picnic tables contained a display with National Rifle Association literature outlining the case against Obama. Powell said that overall he felt like Obama had a lot of good ideas and that he wasn’t going to let his position on firearms be the one determining factor.
The Chronicle didn’t conduct a scientific poll of the gathering, but took at face value Gibson’s response to our question, “Do you figure we could find some Obama supporters here?” Laughed Gibson, “Good luck!” So Powell was likely the only Obama supporter in the crowd.
Bob Powell and Doug Scott read about the open carry picnic in The Ann Arbor News and decided to check it out. Scott is holding a handout with the title: "You Can Openly Carry a Handgun in MIchigan."
But not everyone was necessarily voting for McCain. Lizzio said that he was mulling the possibility of voting for one of the third party candidates like Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party. Although the Libertarian Party best reflects Lizzio’s attitudes on Second Ammendment isses, he says that he’s not involved with the campus Libertarian Party, which is fielding a candidate for mayor of Ann Arbor (Eric Plourde) in this November’s election. The College Libertarians at UM have conducted a free handgun giveaway in the past, although the giveaway does not entail bringing a handgun onto the campus, which is a weapon-free zone as declared by the UM regents.
There are various other place restrictions on open carry – banks, churches, courts, theaters, sports arenas, day care centers, hospitals, bars. The basic requirements of open carry were summarized for The Chronicle by Gibson, collaborating with other picnickers, as follows:
- the gun must be obtained legally
- the gun must be properly registered
- the carrier must be 18+ years old
- the carrier must be on foot
In an open carry setting, it’s not legal to unholster a weapon to check to see if it’s loaded – but most of the picnickers could determine their weapon’s loading state through visual inspection in the holster. Gibson pointed out the contrast between a raised tab along the top of the barrel – indicating a round in the chamber – on his own pistol, and the flush tab on a fellow picnicker’s gun, which indicated no round in the chamber, even though there was a magazine loaded. Drawing a weapon requires the wearer to believe that they are in mortal danger.
Ron Gibson checks out a volume by Ted Nugent.
The picnickers by and large seemed prepared to live with the fact that there are plenty of situations where they won’t carry their weapons – some prescribed by rule, and others by social constraints. Brian Jeffs says that he doesn’t carry while working his job as a geologist for the State of Michigan, because his employer doesn’t allow it. And Ron Gibson said he was refused open carry at a graduation party in his own family, but rather than disrespect the graduate by not attending, he left his handgun at home. A smaller group of the picnickers were planning to head over to Maison Edwards tobacco shop in Nickels Arcade after the Wheeler Park gathering. They’d called ahead and said the owner didn’t mind the open carrying – as long as they bought some cigars.
One of the messages that the assembled picnickers wanted us to take away was that guns are not bad and that people who own them are not bad people. “We’re not criminals,” said one picnicker. He fessed up to one infraction a couple of decades ago that resulted in a night in jail: public urination (in his own yard), which was recorded as indecent exposure. There’s something to be said about the importance of keeping things holstered, and yes, that joke was made.
Looking for an alternative view on the open carrying at Wheeler Park, The Chronicle spotted a woman in a big pink floppy hat sitting on a bench in the middle of the park soaking up the sun, and pegged her as a neighbor who would deliver just the anti-open-carrying quote that we needed to provide some balance. Nope. It was Charlotte Reaume – she’d accompanied her husband, who was over in the shade under the shelter. Reaume is a candidate for Monroe County sheriff in November’s election. Her recollections of a career in law enforcement patrolling Conrail railyards with a black German shepherd named Prince filled out the rest of The Chronicle’s afternoon at Wheeler Park.
A: Is there a round in the chamber or not?
B: Is there a round in the chamber or not?
A grill full of Koegel's at the open carry picnic.
http://www.mlive.com/annarbornews/news/index.ssf/2008/10/attendees_at_ann_arbor_picnic.html
Attendees at Ann Arbor picnic pack more than their lunches
by Tom Gantert | The Ann Arbor News
Monday October 13, 2008, 7:11 AM
In many ways, it was a typical picnic on a beautiful Sunday in an Ann Arbor park - hot dogs, potato chips and hamburgers.
Except for the fact it was BYOG.
That's BYOG as in bring your own gun.
For Julian Lizzio, a 21-year-old University of Michigan student, that meant packing a nickel-plated Colt .38-caliber pistol.
Lizzio helped organize a rally for about 50 people at Wheeler Park at Sunday at 1 p.m. in favor of exercising their legal right to openly wear a firearm in public. About 20 people wore weapons in holsters. In Michigan, it's legal to carry a loaded pistol openly, but a concealed weapons permit is needed to carry a gun that's hidden.
"When people say, 'Why do you carry a gun?' I'm a little speechless," Lizzio said. "Why wouldn't you?"
Sgt. Ed Stuck said Ann Arbor police received one call Sunday from a citizen reporting there were people in Wheeler Park with guns.
Stuck said the city attorney's office ruled that it is legal to have a weapon in a holster in the open. Many of the advocates Sunday refused to take their weapon out of their holster when asked.
"The only time you draw that weapon out in public is if you use it," said Brian Jeffs of Bath. "That's why you won't see anyone handling their gun."
Doug Holloway made the trip to Wheeler Park from his home in Westland. Most of the people who attended were members of the OpenCarry.org, a national organization formed in 2004, to promote the right to carry a gun in the open.
Holloway said he carries his Sig Sauer 4SW handgun for protection.
When asked when he felt threatened enough to need a gun, Holloway said last winter when a man was "aggressively" approaching him outside a party store.
"He asked me for change and he kept getting closer and closer," said Holloway, who was unarmed at the time. "He had his hands down by his side. I just told him to back up and stay away. He backed up."
Holloway said if he had been openly carrying his handgun, the man never would have approached him.
Lizzio said he was caught weaponless two years ago in Ann Arbor when he was chased by a drunken homeless person waving a broken bottle.
"Muggers can say, 'This looks a little riskier than I would like,'" he said.
Lizzio says he does not carry his gun to school, but feels his group would win in court if he challenged U-M over its ban on carrying weapons.
Jeffs has been a regular at the gun picnics since they started in Brighton last December. He said four people showed up openly armed at the McDonalds in Brighton and "never had a problem."
But the open gun advocates have their tales of harassment.
Jeffs said he was kicked out of Barnes and Noble in East Lansing on Saturday for openly carrying his .357 Magnum revolver at a Ted Nugent book signing. Jeffs said he demanded a refund for Nugent's book.
Jeffs said he thinks he could go his whole life without needing a firearm for protection. He carries it because it is his right. "I'm sick and tired of being told what to do by a police state," Jeffs said.
Sometimes it is the police. Other times, it is just business owners, as Lizzio found out Sunday before the picnic.
Lizzio went into Main Street Party Store to buy items for the picnic wearing his gun on his hip.
The manager told him not to do it anymore.
Dave Breher, manager at Main Street Party Store, said he'd rather give up the money if an armed robber came into the store than risk a gunfight happening in his store.
"It makes me uncomfortable," Breher said. "Why would anyone carry a firearm except to use it?"
"But you got to remember," Lizzio said. "No guns. No money. ... And I spend a lot of money there." When Breher was told he could lose a gun-toting customer, he said, "That's fine."
Tom Gantert can be reached at tgantert@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6701.
Jackson area police receive several calls about residents carrying sidearms
by Steven Hepker | Jackson Citizen Patriot
Monday April 27, 2009, 2:17 PM
An apparent organized flexing of Second Amendment rights last weekend was a bit too Wild West for some local citizens and business owners.
Police and deputies responded to a number of complaints about citizens packing sidearms at restaurants, stores and other public areas.
None of the gun carriers was cited.
Michigan's 2001 shall-issue concealed weapons law greatly increased the number of citizens packing handguns. The public, however, does not notice the guns because they are hidden under clothing.
But a shopper with a handgun on his hip in Target is another matter. Security officers followed the man Saturday and contacted city police.
"One of our officers had contact with the man in the parking lot, and that was the end of it," Lt. Christopher Simpson said. "He was carrying legally."
Blackman Township officers responded to reports of a diner with a handgun in a hip holster at Bob Evans Restaurant on West Avenue, and another with a visible sidearm at Wal-Mart on E. Michigan Avenue.
"We verified they were legitimate side carries," Blackman Township Public Safety Director Jon Johnston said.
While the appearance of citizens carrying weapons is unsettling to some, it also is an expression of freedom.
"Sometimes it is a matter of educating the public that this is a constitutional right," Johnston said. "We do not take enforcement action against those who obey the law."
Sheriff's deputies, meanwhile, were called to Vandercook Lake to check out two suspicious males, each carrying a handgun on his side.
It was a father and son, and the father also was packing two concealed handguns, sheriff's Capt. Kevin Stellingworth said. The father has a concealed-weapons permit.
Stellingworth and Undersheriff Thomas Finco said that citizens who exercise the right to carry guns openly should realize it alarms the public and police.
"It hypes people up to see someone carrying a gun," Finco said. "What people don't realize is it is perfectly legal."
Aside from designated pistol-free areas, such as schools, bars, stadiums, churches and hospitals, most public and private areas in Michigan are open to both concealed weapons and open sidearms.
Stellingworth said law officers and business owners cannot become complacent regarding citizens showing weapons.
Because more citizens are choosing to carry weapons in public, police trainers are addressing that by incorporating scenarios in which officers approach those who could be exercising a right, or are up to no good.
Gun group targets litter
By Catherine Kavanaugh, Daily Tribune Staff Writer
FERNDALE — Lawrence Morton was surprised to see a pistol-packing, cleanup crew bagging litter along Woodward Avenue as he waited Saturday at a bus stop.
"It doesn't seem like there's a need for it here," the Detroit resident said of the men with firearms in holsters. "No one does that in my neighborhood."
When asked if he knew of anyone who carried a concealed weapon in his neighborhood, Morton just laughed.
The 10 members of Michigan Open Carry, Inc., a nonprofit, pro-firearms organization, raised some eyebrows as they tried to raise awareness about the right for anyone age 18 or older to openly carry a legally registered handgun.
"It's a little known law," Ferndale Lt. Bill Wilson said. "They use it to test rookies. They'll ask: What do you do if you see someone with a six-shooter strapped to his waist. The answer better be nothing or the rookie needs remedial training.
"If they are not brandishing it in a threatening way or going inside a bar, bank or school, which are some of the prohibitions, they are not breaking any law."
MOC President Brian Jeffs wore a 9 mm handgun in plain view as he handed out garbage bags in the parking lot of Ferndale Foods.
"We want to get people used to this," the Bath resident said.
"We're trying to make Michigan more like Arizona."
MOC's objectives are to desensitize the public — and some police — about seeing people walking down the streets with guns around their waists; to demonstrate gun owners are lawful and shouldn't be feared; and to protect themselves.
"It's like wearing a seatbelt or having car insurance," Jeffs said. "It's preventative, it's a precaution and it tends to deter crime."
Doug Holloway of Westland said he thinks he is safer openly carrying his firearm than someone who has a permit for a concealed weapon.
"A criminal will go after the softer target with the concealed pistol," he added.
But Carissa Gaden didn't notice any of the guns strapped around the MOC members as they walked down Nine Mile Road to Woodward. She was out with some students from Ferndale Middle School raising money for the music program. The fundraisers did recall the men donating some pocket change.
"I noticed their bright safety vests and I thought they were construction workers," Gaden said. "If I had seen their guns it would have freaked me out. Anyone with a gun around my children would make me uncomfortable."
MOC members often are challenged by people like Gaden when they gather for picnics or community service projects, Jeffs said. He also walks around armed with a brochure called "You can openly carry a handgun in Michigan" to explain the law.
"Once people learn this is legal they usually are indifferent," Jeffs said. "We've put in thousands of hours of open carry in Michigan to get out the word."
Police said they didn't get any complaints while the MOC members, who were cleaning sidewalks and medians north to Birmingham, were in Ferndale.
"I did expect people to call," Wilson said. "It's fairly common in other parts of the country but you don't see it around here. Part of the justification is you are telling everyone I have a gun and I will use it for protection. Right or wrong it makes sense."
Craig Gaffield/Daily Tribune From left, Mike Bostwick, Zachary Bostwick, Doug Holloway, Savannah Meadows and Dan Meadows of the Michigan Open Carry pro-firearms organization collect and bag litter in Ferndale Saturday.
Cleanup also to promote right to openly carry firearms.
CG Festival gun carrier files federal civil suit
Wed, May 13, 2009
BY MARK BROOKY
mbrooky@grandhaventribune.com
An attorney representing a man who was charged with carrying a gun at last year's Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven has filed a lawsuit, claiming the incident violated his client's civil rights.
Steven Dulan filed the civil rights suit in federal court in Grand Rapids on March 5 over the city's open-carry ordinance, according to Justia.com. The suit seeks $600,000.
Dulan represents Christopher Fetters, a 21-year-old off-duty U.S. Air Force security officer from Freeport who was arrested by Grand Haven Department of Public Safety officers on Aug. 2, 2008, for carrying a Glock 40 handgun in a holster at his side in downtown Grand Haven. Police said they disarmed Fetters, arrested him on a misdemeanor charge, issued a 90-day court appearance ticket and allowed him to leave without the gun.
While Michigan law allows carrying concealed weapons with a permit, Grand Haven has a local ordinance prohibiting openly possessing and carrying dangerous weapons in public, a GHDPS official said at the time. People carrying weapons can be frightening and the department received several verbal complaints about the man, a department official said.
However, the city dismissed the charges in late August and the gun was returned to Fetters.
GHDPS Capt. Rick Yonker said then that it appeared the city ordinance was unenforceable under Michigan law, and the state law regarding openly carrying firearms pre-empts local ordinances.
"In most cases, a city ordinance can be more restrictive than state law," Yonker said at the time. "But in this case, that does not apply."
The decision to drop the charge came after research of case law by the city's attorney suggested the ordinance would not hold up in court, Yonker said. The officers acted in good faith and were enforcing the ordinance, Yonker said, but the city decided not to continue with the case.
"No allegations were ever made that Mr. Fetters ever threatened anyone, or in any other way disturbed the peace on the day of his arrest," Dulan stated in the announcement of the suit on Tuesday. "He is demanding damages for violation of his civil rights as a citizen of the United States and of Michigan."
The suit names Yonker, GHDPS Director Dennis Edwards, former GHDPS Lt. Mark Reiss, Lt. Mike Brookhouse of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, the city, the county and its Sheriff's Department, and a couple of "unknown parties" as defendants.
A message left at Dulan's East Lansing office this morning was not immediately returned. No city officials were available for comment this morning.
The federal case number is 1:09-CV-00190. It was assigned to Judge Robert H. Bell.
On the Net:
http://dockets.justia.com
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/06/handguncarrying_advocates_plan.html
Handgun-carrying advocates plan picnic
by Rex Hall Jr. | Kalamazoo Gazette
Friday June 05, 2009, 10:32 PM
KALAMAZOO -- Food and firearms will go hand in hand Sunday at Bronson Park during an afternoon picnic hosted by the pro-Second Amendment group OpenCarry.org.
The Open Carry Picnic, from 1 to 4 p.m., is meant to teach residents and raise awareness about the legal right to openly carry a handgun in Michigan, said Josh Tishhouse, a member of the national group.
The event also is in response to three incidents that, according to Tishhouse, have occurred locally in the last six weeks involving members of OpenCarry.org who were detained by either Kalamazoo or Portage police and later released.
"It's mostly to show we are a nonconfrontational group," he said. "We're just exercising a constitutional right."
The event will be similar to recent gatherings the group held previously in Ann Arbor and Hastings. The group also hosted a "meet-and-eat" event this year at Theo & Stacy's on South Westnedge Avenue.
Police don't plan to have officers at the event, but they do plan to monitor it as needed with on-duty personnel, said Capt. Brian Uridge of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.
"From all the information that we have, we believe it is going to be a peaceful event," Uridge said.
It is legal to openly carry a loaded pistol in Michigan, but a permit is needed to carry a concealed weapon.
Tishhouse said between 17 and 19 members have confirmed they plan to attend the picnic, and some of them will be traveling from areas of the state that include Ann Arbor and Detroit.
The event is free and open to the general public and members of OpenCarry.org. Tishhouse said attendees are not required to openly carry a firearm to take part in the picnic.
Organizers are asking for anyone who comes to the picnic to bring a dish to pass, their own soft drinks and tableware.
Rex Hall Jr. can be reached at rhall@kalamazoogazette.com or (269) 388-7784.
Gun owners show support for open-carry law at picnic in Kalamazoo
by Kathy Jessup | Kalamazoo Gazette
Monday June 08, 2009, 10:15 AM
John A. Lacko | Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette
Rob Grinage and Josh Tishhouse, both of Kalamazoo, work on cooking the hamburgers and hot dogs during the Open Carry Picnic in Bronson Park Sunday afternoon.
KALAMAZOO -- It resembled most any Sunday afternoon picnic in Bronson Park. Except most of the people assembled around tables filled with watermelon and grilled goodies had firearms in holsters strapped to their waists.
http://www.opencarry.org.
For Tishhouse, openly carrying a weapon is a matter of self-defense. But he says Americans also need to exercise their constitutional rights to the lawful ownership of firearms or risk losing them.
"I hope never, ever to have to draw this," Tishhouse said. "But I absolutely believe it's a deterrent. If somebody's looking for a soft target to mug and they see you have a weapon, they're not likely to pick you."
According to Michigan Open Carry, any resident 18 or older who owns a legally registered handgun may openly carry that firearm in a holster.
The fact that the handgun is registered means the owner has passed a criminal background check. And many Open Carry members also have permits for concealed weapons that they say required additional scrutiny.
There are restrictions if you do not have a concealed-carry permit. Tishhouse said it's unlawful to possess a firearm in a bank, church, theater, sports arena, day-care center, hospital or any establishment licensed to sell liquor. Property owners also can impose their own firearms restrictions.
Ryan Ransom, a Coloma High School automotive technology teacher, said people who open-carry their handguns often are assumed to be off-duty police officers.
And although Ransom said he has never been confronted by a civilian for wearing his 9 mm pistol, some police officers have been unaware of the laws that allow it and have questioned him.
Stephanie Grinage says people in their Edison neighborhood refer to her husband, Robert, as "Wyatt Earp," an iconic 1800s Western lawman. Robert often walks their dog with his holstered firearm in full view.
The owner of a neighborhood convenience store refers to the pair as "my friends," she explained, after a "shady" man eyeing the cash register left the establishment one day when the openly armed Grinages stopped to make a purchase.
Stephanie Grinage has a concealed weapons permit that allows her to keep her Smith & Wesson .38 Special tucked in her purse.
"The weight of a gun around my waist pulls my pants down," she mused.
For the young housewife who is often home alone, her gun is about protection.
"I don't want to feel powerless," said Grinage, who still suffers from the scars of a physical assault when she was 18. "I want to be able to protect myself and not worry about the cops showing up too late."
People milling around at Sunday's event said they're not all the stereotypical conservatives criticized by Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign for "clinging" to their guns.
"I don't identify myself as a Democrat or a Republican," Tishhouse said. "I consider myself a constitutionalist.
"If you want to know the truth, I voted for Obama."
Getting the word out
By MICHAEL PETERSON Argus-Press Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:40 AM EDT
Argus-Press Photo by Anthony Cepak
Members of the group Michigan Open Carry, Inc. gather at Collamer Park in Owosso for a picnic Sunday to generate awareness in the community about Michigan concealed weapons laws and the Second Amendment.
OWOSSO - It may not be a well-known fact, but it is legal to openly carry a handgun in Michigan - and members of a newly-formed organization are hoping to get the word out.
Michigan Open Carry, Inc. held a picnic at noon Sunday in Collamer Park, during which members offered not only food, but information regarding their organization and the state's firearm laws.
“We just want to get the word out about open carry and that it is legal,” MOP President Brian Jeffs, of Bath, said. “For us, open carry is like a ‘Beware of Dog' sign in our front yard. It shows that we are a hard target.”
He explained while it is legal to openly carry, there are still some restrictions. For one, the gun needs to be in a pouch if it is not going to be concealed. Also, not having a concealed-pistol license can restrict the type of areas a person can go while brandishing a firearm - such as a bank, court, theater, hospital, church or any establishment that sells liquor.
While the nonprofit group was officially formed in April, the first seeds were planted when Jeffs and others began frequenting http://www.opencarry.org, an Internet forum created by Virginia gun-rights activitists to educate people on Second Amendment rights.
So when he and a handful of others created the group, they wanted to help spread the word on a state level. However, they also wanted the activism to be non-confrontational - hence, the picnics.
Sunday's picnic was no different than any other typical picnic - excluding the fact that many attending had firearms attached to their hips. There were fishing and hot dogs, and open carry information was available to anyone who wanted it.
“People come, get information and go. Or they will have something to eat and talk a little bit with us to see that we are not all crazies,” Jeffs said.
Secretary Christina Florence of Frankenmuth said the key to understanding open carrying is to educate people about it. And she should know - she used to hate the idea of guns.
“I never grew up with guns, so it was a scary thing at first,” Florence said. “And also having a daughter around made it a little more intimidating. But now that I am more educated about it, I have no problem with it.”
Another roadblock for the group has been the realization some municipalities have laws in direct violation of open carry.
“The state has ruled that local municipalities cannot enforce gun-control laws that are more restrictive than the state's,” Jeffs said. “A lot of municipalities have these laws in their books, but they are not enforceable.”
Because of this, MOP has been contacting those cities to make them aware of the violations.
Owosso resident Nathan Spencer said it was curiosity that brought him out to the picnic, but added he already knew Michigan's open carry laws.
“I've been carrying a gun for 60 years - concealed and open,” Spencer said.
He added he thought what the group was doing was a good thing, because he has seen a noticeable change in attitudes toward firearms in recent years.
“A lot of people are afraid if they carry in public that the cops are going to harass or bother them,” he said.