MI City Official Wants Power To Ban Open Carry

For the children...or something

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – An outgoing city commissioner is calling on state lawmakers to let municipal governments ban the open-carry of guns.

James White took time at the end of a Tuesday, Aug. 27, City Commission meeting to read a prepared statement that "cities are different" from most of Michigan, and he urged lawmakers to "change any laws that might restrict the authority of cities to regulate violence and the potential for violence."

The statement was made after a Kentwood man again criticized Mayor George Heartwell for supporting an outdated city ordinance that prohibits open carry of guns in Grand Rapids. The unenforced city ordinance conflicts with an overriding state law that permits open carry throughout Michigan.