53rd House District Jeff Irwin's position on CPL reform bills. - Page 1

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 53rd House District Jeff Irwin's position on CPL reform bills.

Posted: 2/26/2015 8:55:01 PM EDT

Dear Mr. S,

Thank you for contacting me regarding Senate Bills 789 and 790, which were
reintroduced during the new legislative session as Senate Bills 34 and 35.
These bills amend Michigan’s handgun licensure law. I appreciate you writing to
me to share your opinion on this important issue.

I am not in favor of these bills as they are currently
written. A similar issue came before the legislature last year and I was
opposed then as well. Michigan is currently a shall-issue state, with only very
limited opportunities for discretional rejections. In practice, these denials
represents a tiny fraction of the applicants and the result of our CPL policies
is that almost 500,000 residents have gained access to these permits. Local gun boards utilize this tool
sparingly. That’s why, when our local gun boards encounter an applicant who has
a history of problematic actions in the community – even if those actions
haven’t risen to the level of an arrest or an involuntary commitment – we
should give those officials an opportunity to apply their knowledge of the
applicant to the decision. This is the best way to ensure that people with a
violent history or a severe mental illness do not obtain CPL’s.

That is why I am
opposed to eliminating these checks and balances that exist in our current
system. County gun boards are connected to the community and they are in the
best position to approve license requests. They have no documented history of
abusing their authority and the number of discretionary denials suggests that
the local gun boards rarely reject an applicant.

Thank you again for writing to me
about this issue. I appreciate your input and I look forward to working on this
issue as it moves through the legislature.

Best,

Jeff Irwin

Representative Jeff Irwin

53rd District

State of Michigan

517-373-2577

http://053.housedems.com

[email protected]

Posted: 3/1/2015 6:24:33 PM EDT

[#1]

Not surprising as most Democrats are inclined to vote against the people abusing our Second Amendment Rights.

Posted: 3/6/2015 9:47:32 AM EDT

[#2]

How is the County Gun Board in any more intimate position than the State Police when it comes to personal knowledge of an individual's reputation and they're certainly not doctors fit to make determinations about an individual's mental health. Would you go to a County Gun Board member before making a loan to someone to see if they had a good reputation for paying things back or simply look at their credit history? Would you go to a County Gun Board member if you were concerned that your child had ADHD and ask them for a medical diagnosis? No, you would not. The State Police under the new law will rely upon background checks and a Doctor's determination about whether someone is a threat to themselves or others, which just sounds like a more common sense and fair approach.

In counties with hundreds of thousands of people I can't see how a member of the gun board knows most applicants from Adam. We're not living in the age of Mayberry here anymore in Michigan.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 53rd House District Jeff Irwin's position on CPL reform bills.

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