The concealed weapons law signed by Gov. John Engler in January makes it much easier to get a CCW permit, though it still requires background checks and gun training. The new law raises the age of eligibility from 18 to 21 and makes schools, arenas, churches and certain other public venues off limits for CCW licensed guns. County gun boards can issue the new permits beginning July 1. They plan to turn in more than 200,000 signatures before the end of the month. On Friday, Secretary of State Candice Miller asked Attorney General Jennifer Granholm for an official opinion on the question.
Road rage takes on a new meaning.
That's from the Web site for People Who Care About Kids, sponsors of a petition drive under way to block the law. Not much, according to a Free Press analysis. Crime rates have declined in Macomb in the years since Prosecutor Carl Marlinga and former Sheriff William Hackel adopted the more permissive policy. Just as under the new state law, Macomb's policy is to issue a license to virtually any sane adult who completes a gun-training course and passes a rigorous background check. During the same period, violent crime fell statewide at an almost identical rate.