UPDATE: Gov. Snyder refused to take my tongue-in-cheek "advice" from Tuesday morning and vetoed the gun bill Tuesday afternoon.
What’s taking Gov. Rick Snyder so long to sign that gun bill on his desk?
The obvious answer is the image of bullet-riddled bodies of first graders. The Connecticut massacre took place just hours after the lame-duck Michigan legislature rammed through a bill that could allow gun owners with concealed weapons permits and slightly advanced training to carry inside schools, daycare centers, churches, stadiums and other places where weapons are now banned.
But that shouldn’t deter Snyder. He shouldn’t let what happened at that grade school politicize his efforts to transform Michigan. He shouldn’t let anything get in the way of his boldness.
The ideology behind the gun legislation among Snyder’s Republican allies is clear: Americans are free to arm themselves, and an armed society is a polite society.
Speaking after the gunfire at Sandy Hook Elementary, Ari Adler, a spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, said Friday “having well-trained individuals with the freedom to carry a concealed pistol may be considered a public safety asset that could act as a deterrent against such shootings…”
Sure. You can follow that logic by imagining what would happen should Snyder sign the bill.
Let’s say an “evil criminal” – Adler’s words – like a mentally ill, heavily armed man dressed in camouflage walks into a grade school in, say, Brighton. The principal and perhaps a teacher and maybe the janitor and the speech pathologist simply would reach for their concealed weapons, revert to their training, and just shoot it out with the gunman. That could save a lot of lives.
O.k., there could be collateral damage, but the idea is to make mentally ill people with assault rifles not want to go where people might be packing. That guy in Colorado who shot up the theater – he chose a place that banned weapons and passed by theaters that allow people to carry. I heard that on Rush.
You can teach your average gun owner to get to a second level and react well under a little bit of stress. Even the ladies. It just takes a little self-discipline. Adler bragged that under the law, Michigan would have “the most highly trained concealed carry licensees in the nation.” There’s some of your “relentless, positive action,” as Snyder himself would say.
In the past couple of days, Snyder and his spokeswoman have said there are concerns with the bill, including language that appears to make it impossible for schools to declare themselves gun-free zones.
Sounds like Snyder is buckling under the pressure of gun-control advocates. Those people just want a quick-fix solution to the country’s complex violence issues. They are attacking the symptoms, not the problems.
Snyder described himself as “one tough nerd” when he ran for office two years ago. He was tough on right-to-work. He's likely to be tough on abortion, and sign that restrictive bill that's also on his desk. A real tough guy wouldn’t let what happened in Connecticut deter him from doing what Republicans believe is right for Michigan. Don’t be a coward, governor.
