On behalf of Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, I would like to commend the businesses which are barring the petition circulators who are trying to overturn the new concealed weapons law that our elected representatives passed.

Our members are law-abiding gun owners, and many are offended by the actions of this small band of extremists. We have no desire to be harassed by them as we shop or take our families to the movies.

These gun-haters had the same chance to convince the legislators that they were right. They lost the debate because the facts demonstrated 31 other states don’t have a problem with law-abiding armed citizens, and the state and federal constitutions are quite clear regarding our right to own and carry firearms. So now they’re trying to badger, cajole and trick other people into overturning the law that the well-informed Legislature passed before it can take effect.

We don’t want these people pushing their petitions in our faces in public places, and I personally won’t do business with any establishment that allows them to do it. They have a right to circulate their petitions, but I and the rest of the gun owners in the state have the same right to restrict our business to places where we can shop free of harassment.

Ross Dykman
Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners executive director,
1999 MSU-DCL graduate