Tomorrow, February 10, House Bill 4795 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Local Government Committee at 12:00pm. Sponsored by state Representative Lee Chatfield (R-107), HB 4795 would improve the current state firearm preemption law to ensure consistency throughout The Great Lakes State. This would be done by establishing penalties for knowing and willful violations of the state preemption statute by local governments. Additionally, HB 4795 will provide a mechanism by which individuals adversely affected by a preemption violation can recover damages.
The necessity for this particular legislation has become especially apparent over the past several weeks. Recently, the Constantine (MI) Village Council garnered substantial publicity when the council president, Pat Weiss, submitted a proposal to ban so-called "assault weapons" within the village. When notified that such a ban would be blatantly unlawful under Michigan's firearm preemption statute, city officials stated that the ban was simply intended to "serve as a message to our state Senator and Representative."
If you believe that local units of government should be held accountable for unlawfully infringing upon your Right to Keep and Bear Arms, please contact the members of the House Local Government Committee today and politely urge them to SUPPORT HB 4795!