CPL fee reduction moves forward in Lansing
The government of Michigan makes over $7 million a year in Concealed Pistol License fees, and 75% of that is pure profit.
Why are government fat cats making money off of your rights?
Reducing the licensing fees is a small step in the right direction, but really it doesn’t go far enough.
It passed with a bipartisan vote of 67 to 42 in the House, with 11 Democrat State Representatives voting for it and State Representative Tommy Brann (House District 77) being the lone Republican “No” vote.
Unfortunately, it’s likely to meet stiff resistance from anti-gun Democrats in the State Senate where the margins are much tighter.
And we can’t forget that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has a history of killing pro-gun bills in the Senate as well as supporting gun bans at the Capitol.
Not to mention, Governor Whitmer is likely to veto even the most nominally pro-gun legislation sent to her desk.
As you know, here at GLGR we believe that carrying a pistol for self-defense should require no government approval, period.
And even if the fee is cut in half, the cost is still too high for the simple ability to exercise one’s rights.
If you can legally possess a pistol, you should be able to carry it how you see fit without paying excessive fees, getting fingerprinted like a common criminal, and waiting on your paperwork to be approved.
Constitutional Carry is the only real answer for Michigan.
As you know, Constitutional Carry is a simple concept: if you can legally possess a pistol, you can legally carry it, openly or concealed, without having to first obtain a CPL and paying the “coat tax.”
That’s how it is done in 21 other states, with Texas becoming the latest just this week.
The fact is, Constitutional Carry is on the move nationwide. Of the 21 states who have passed it, 5 have passed it this year alone.
No CPL is required to openly carry a pistol here in Michigan, so the permit amounts to nothing more than a “coat tax” and one that law-abiding Michiganders have been paying long enough.
And remember, if you don’t pay the tax, you can be thrown in jail for up to five years for even the smallest infraction.
That’s a worse punishment for carrying without a permit than in California, where it is only a misdemeanor!
Enough is enough.
No one should be thrown in jail for practicing a fundamental right, especially when no permit is required to openly carry a pistol in Michigan!
Treating open and concealed carry different under the law is ridiculous, and must come to end.
You see, many Democrats, and even some weak Republicans, will use yesterday’s vote to lower permit fees as a way to tell voters they are “pro-gun.”
But a full vote on Constitutional Carry will REALLY test their Second Amendment bona fides.
It’s easy for a politician to vote in favor of a bill that isn’t too controversial and doesn’t have a major policy impact.
While, yes, the CPL fees here in Michigan are outrageous (the 4th highest in the nation!), for many it was an easy vote.
However, testing each legislator by asking them to take a recorded vote on Constitutional Carry will allow us to “smoke out” which legislators are not truly pro-gun and discover the real fighters for our rights in Lansing.
And since the 2022 elections are already around the corner, with many candidates already announcing for Governor and State House, the timing is even more critical.
The time to prepare is now.
It’s crucial for pro-gun Michiganders to know where their candidates and current lawmakers stand on the right to keep and bear arms.
And a vote on Constitutional Carry is the best way to truly know where each politician stands.
So please take action today!
We’ll keep you posted on the progress of these bills, as well as Constitutional Carry.
For Freedom,
