But don’t purchase a new sword just yet. State Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, said all of these crimes are punishable under other existing laws.

“Basically, the prosecuting attorney has taken a look at the criminal laws and these crimes are obsolete because usually the wrong that is done, we can prosecute under other areas of the law,” Cropsey said.

Cropsey sits on the committee that discussed these out-of-date laws and said these basically are just cleanup efforts.

With brief discussions, the committee passed the bills 5-0, Cropsey said. Now the bills will go to both the full Michigan Senate and House for a vote.

There is no need for these laws anymore, East Lansing police Capt. Tom Johnstone said.

“I don’t think it’s going to be an issue,” Johnstone said. “There are all kinds of other laws that are on the books if somebody were to duel, certainly they could still be charged — not with dueling — but they could be charged with other assault charges.”

Students said prizefighting and dueling are not big concerns on the streets of East Lansing.

“I definitely think they should get rid of them and I mean I think it’s interesting, but they also clearly haven’t caused any problems if they’ve been around for this long,” journalism junior Kelly Tourngeau said.

But Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, joked that a dueling law might be necessary given the bipartisan battle surrounding the state’s $2.8 billion deficit. The state of Michigan is running on a temporary budget until Oct. 31 because lawmakers failed to meet the state’s budget deadline on Oct. 1.

“The way things are going in Lansing today, we need that law,” Kahn said.