Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoes concealed weapons bill

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a bill today that would have allowed people with extra training to carry concealed weapons in schools, day care centers, churches and sports stadiums, the Associated Press reported. Michigan’s current law bans concealed weapons from those places, although gun owners are allowed to carry firearms openly.

Michigan’s legislature passed the bill late Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reported. The next day, a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and pressure mounted on Gov. Snyder to veto the bill.

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According to the Detroit Free Press:

The bill was intended to clarify that "open carry" of guns is not permitted on school properties, while allowing people with concealed pistol licenses and advanced training to carry concealed pistols in places where they normally couldn't, such as schools and public arenas.

The law was supposed to include a provision that allowed institutions to ban any guns, concealed or openly visible, from their location, but the wording of the bill did not clearly grant public schools and other institutions that power, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Snyder said that is why he was vetoing the bill today, according to the Detroit Free Press. “I believe that it is important that these public institutions have clear legal authority to ban weapons from their premises,” he said in his veto letter. “Each is entrusted with the care of a vulnerable population and should have the authority to determine whether its mission would be enhanced by the addition of concealed weapons.”

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