State Sen. Lana Theis on Thursday voted against a package of gun control bills, which she calls “partisan measures significantly infringing on the rights of Michigan residents.”
The bills require background checks on gun purchases, create safe storage laws, and establish extreme risk protection orders. The package passed in the Senate a month after a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University, killing three students and injuring five others, including Hartland High School grad Nate Statly, who suffered extreme head trauma in the shooting and remains in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.
In a release, Theis called the gun control bills — passed after Democrats flipped the Michigan legislature after nearly 40 years of Republican control — “radical” and said they are “hard on law-abiding residents while remaining soft on crime.”
“Going after the constitutional rights of Michiganders instead of criminals is not a solution to any problem. We had an opportunity to address the root causes of gun violence, to hold criminals accountable, and to provide real, tangible improvements to school security,” Theis said. “What we got instead was unconstitutional overreach that violates the Second Amendment and our values as Americans.”
During Thursday’s vote on the proposed gun reforms, the Democratic majority in the Senate voted down amendments that would have provided additional resources to county prosecutors to allow better management of caseloads and to more thoroughly enforce current gun laws as well as funding for schools, colleges and universities to make significant upgrades to security measures.
“Since the Democrats were insistent on ramming through this legislation, despite real concerns and reasonable objections, I supported amendments that would have added actual solutions to these bills,” Theis said. “Surprisingly, every Democrat voted against these additional supports for law enforcement and funding to improve school security.
Theis said providing more resources for law enforcement and for schools shouldn’t be a point of contention.
“This is just another shining example of the Democrats’ ‘our way or the highway’ take on legislating — and today it took $1 billion away from schools and those tasked with enforcing existing laws,” Theis said. “Democrats had no problem signing their names to over $2 billion dollars in corporate welfare but couldn’t support this money for schools and student safety.
“This sends a clear message that they are focused on an agenda and care nothing for your rights or for the rule of law that keeps criminals off the streets and our communities safe.”
