David Marvin via Flickr

Democrat lawmakers have begun pushing for new gun control measures. Their latest crusade comes mere days after the storming of the U.S. Capitol building.

The campaign isn’t coming from the U.S. House of Representatives, yet, but rather from the Michigan Legislature, where Democrats want the state Capitol to become a gun-free zone.

Bearing Arms reports:

This isn’t the first time that Democratic lawmakers have called for a ban. In fact, after armed protesters showed up at the state capitol building in Lansing during anti-lockdown protests last spring, several Democrats called on the Republican-controlled legislature to ban the carrying of firearms inside the Capitol and legislative office buildings. Unlike what we saw on Wednesday, the armed protesters in Lansing weren’t violent, and in fact none of the armed were arrested or cited for any reason. Still, many Democrats insisted that they felt threatened by the sight of legally armed gun owners wandering the halls and sitting in the legislative galleries.

The state’s Attorney General opined that the Capitol Building Commission could ban firearms if it wanted to, but the commission itself disagreed, and the legal dispute lasted throughout much of the year. Eventually the Capitol Commission agreed it did have the power to act, but rejected two proposals that would banned or limited gun possession inside the building, but agreed to further discussions with the Republican House Speaker to try to find “common ground.”

After Wednesday’s violence, however, Democrats are once again calling for the Capitol to become a gun-free zone.

Nobody “stormed” into the Capitol in Lansing with guns on their shoulders. They walked in, as they’re legally allowed to do. And I’m not sure if the lawmakers are aware of this, but the U.S. Capitol is a gun-free zone unless you’re a member of Congress or the Capitol Police, and that didn’t stop a freaking riot from breaking out. It may have allowed at least one arrest to happen, but given the fact that police were overwhelmed, I’m pretty sure that there was no way to fully enforce the prohibition on guns inside the Capitol for at least a few hours on Wednesday afternoon.



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