Joseph F. Yamin,
Lawyer with Beier Howlett P.C.
Mr. Joseph F. Yamin,
I am sending this email due to the recent Commentary you provided to the Detroit Free Press and published on September 2nd, 2010. I am one of the persons who worked with the City Of Royal Oak on the ABE Contract Issue. The email below should provide you with a little background on the issue. I will send a additional email that further details the issue. My emails are In My Opinion only.
Commentary Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/201009021219/OPINION05/100902047
First of all, it appears you have not performed the requisite research on the issue prior to speaking publicly. This does not speak well to your credibility on the matter. What results is that your commentary is reduced to little more than an emotional response aired in an attempt to sway the court of public opinion. Was this the message you intended to portray? Is this a responsible, reasoned approach that reflects well on your employer as well as on your position on the Board Of Directors for the Detroit Gun Club?
Let me provide some information for you to mull over:
1. This was never an Open Carry issue, the contract provision stated "no firearms" (Section 3, Provision q). I Conceal Carried to the 3rd Royal Oak City Commission Meeting to help them understand this very point. See the emails for further details.
2. The City of Royal Oak was approached privately to discuss and resolve the contract provision issue. This is the preferred method that we follow if at all possible and there are clear examples to be found with the proper research. Please refer to the history I provided below.
3. A Right is not a Privilege. As a lawyer, I cannot believe you even wrote this.
4. Open Carry has been the law of the land in Michigan since 1835. There can be no better exercise of keeping and bearing arms than a firearm openly carried. See Michigan Constitution Article I Section 6 for details.
5. Your statements of unwanted attention and/or possible targeting is baseless. A simple google search of Open Carry would have revealed sites like OpenCarry.Org and MichiganOpenCarry.org, which depict thousands of Open Carry Experiences over 43 states and other situational/tactical information that are in direct factual contradiction to your statements. In over 1 year of Open Carrying, I have had a series of overwhelmingly "non-events" as most people do not even notice I carry and those who do make it no issue (as it should be).
6. The second of your listed facts attempts to smear persons as irresponsible who provide for their fundamental right of self-protection by Open Carrying. Nothing could be further from the truth. I take exception to this as you do not know me and could have easily contacted me had you performed Due Diligence Research. The July and August City Commission proceedings are published as videos on the City Of Royal Oak Website and you can find my comments recorded during the Public Comments time.
7. The tone of the commentary appears to be from someone who has not Open Carried and are the same old tired Concealed vs. Open arguments that have been refuted time and time again. Since you appear to have no basis in experience or research in this Open Carry area, why would you publish something at all? Would your employer consider it responsible for you to practice law for a particular area where you are not experienced?
8. Do you not realize that we are fellow firearm owners who might provide business to a law firm and/or the Detroit Gun Club? Do you realize that the Gun Control groups lap up articles like yours to help fuel their efforts?
Please know that this letter will be posted to Firearm Sites in Michigan for informational purposes. Please consider your further actions carefully as it reflects upon your employer, upon firearm owners as a whole, and potentially upon the choices of firearm clients the firm might someday represent.
Sincerely,
PDinDetroit
CC: Timothy J. Currier, CEO