Infuriated with a weapons ban imposed by the East Lansing City Council, gun advocates said Wednesday they plan to challenge the ordinance because it violates constitutional rights.
At its Tuesday meeting, the council voted to forbid guns, knives and similar weapons from city buildings, facilities and adjacent parking lots. But members from the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners were quick to respond to the decision and will challenge the decision in Ingham County Court on Monday.
"Firearms rights are civil rights," said coalition President David Felbeck. "If you take away firearms rights, you take away the First Amendment. Anybody that says it can't happen in this country is naive."
But East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows supported the ordinance at the meeting, saying the ordinance is not a violation of the Second Amendment.
"As a firearm owner, I don't feel threatened by this ordinance at all," said Meadows, who previously said he owned at least a dozen firearms.
Weapons were previously forbidden in City Hall, 410 Abbott Road, which houses the 54-B District Court, because of a state law that prohibits weapons in courts. The new ordinance adds the Hannah Community Center, Bailey Community Center, library, aquatic center, public works building, soccer field complex and softball complex to that list.
Felbeck said the new ordinance explicitly violates Michigan's Firearms Preemption Act of 1990. The act prohibits local governments from regulating ownership, registration, purchase, sale, transfer, transportation or possession of firearms unless specified under state or federal law.
"Any sixth-grader can read that and see these cities can't be doing what they're doing," Felbeck said. "Only a lawyer can see past that. The whole idea is absurd."
But Sam Singh, East Lansing mayor pro tem, said the ordinance is consistent with legislative decisions that have added weapon-free zones where there are youth, such as day-care centers and churches.
"Whenever you take a look at ground-breaking legislation, there is investigation," he said. "We are taking the Legislature to another level."
The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, which is 33,000 members strong, has challenged similar ordinances in both Ferndale and Detroit. The Ferndale ordinance was upheld in court and appealed by the coalition, which will now have an expedited hearing.
Rod Collins, communications director of the gun coalition, said they will ask for an injunction on the ordinance until there is a decision on the Ferndale case.
"We're very disappointed because the city of East Lansing has a history of supporting the rights of people even if it is against the popular view," he said.
Tom Yeadon, East Lansing assistant city attorney, said he believes the city has the legal right to pass the ordinance.
"It's just like any other business has the right to keep guns out of their building," he said.
