Michigan Brandishing Bills Reported Out of Committee

Michigan Open Carry
Michigan Open Carry

Michigan –-(Ammoland.com)- Great news!

We reported last week that the improved language for bills that improve Michigan’s brandishing laws – HB 5091 H-1 (Johnson (R) Clair) and HB 5092 H-1 (Dillon (D) Grand Rapids) – was adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee.

Today we are happy to report that both of these bills have received unanimous, bipartisan support in the committee and have been reported to the floor.

These bills will close a gap left by the lack of a definition for brandishing in our statutes.

A gap that has been exploited by some of the few remaining in law-enforcement who still refuse to acknowledge that openly carrying a firearm is legal in Michigan.

While such exploitations are generally unsuccessful in court, they still cause significant financial and emotional burdens for the accused, which have caused many in our community to think twice about lawfully openly carrying a firearm in public. Michigan Open Carry feels that you should not have to think twice about exercising your rights.

At the same time, by providing a definition that is clear and easy to find, we not only help those trying to follow our laws, we also help those tasked with enforcing our laws. Providing such definition will allow members our law-enforcement community to enforce our laws with confidence and without having to second guess their actions.

We would like to thank the members of the committee who voted yes in the bipartisan effort to improve Michigan’s brandishing statute:

Kevin Cotter (R) Committee Chair, 99th District
Klint Kesto (R) Majority Vice-Chair, 39th District
Kurt Heise (R) 20th District
Joel Johnson (R) 97th District
Andrea LaFontaine (R) 32nd District
Tom Leonard (R) 93rd District
Martin Howrylak (R) 41st District
Phil Cavanagh (D) Minority Vice-Chair, 10th District
Ellen Lipton (D) 27th District
Jeff Irwin (D) 53rd District
Paul Clemente (D) 14th District

However, there is still much work to do. Before being sent to the Governor, these bills must be debated and passed first by the House of Representatives and then the Senate.

Stay tuned for further updates on these bills.

Tom Lambert
Assistant Legislative Director
Michigan Open Carry, Inc.
[email protected]

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