LANSING, Mich. — As more major retailers are asking customers not to open carry guns in their stores, gun rights advocates proudly had their firearms on display at the State Capitol.
The 2019 Second Amendment March was held in downtown Lansing Tuesday afternoon.
Advocates said that there's no question their rights are under attack, open carry, specifically.
'If a police officer shoots a bad guy, they blame a police officer, but if a bad guy shoots somebody, they want to blame the firearm," said Dennis Daley from Pontiac, MI. He has attended the second amendment rally for the last nine years. "The anti-gun side, they're trying to do it in little bits and pieces and that's how they do it. They're trying to villainize firearms."
The event is about celebrating the second amendment which Daley believes is under attack now more than ever before.
One of the issues the organizers are focusing on this year is red-flag laws.
A package of red-flag bills were introduced in the state house earlier this year that would allow police to take someone's weapons for up to a year if family members or law enforcement convince the court they're an imminent threat. 17 states have already adopted similar laws,
'This is legislation that they're trying to enact. They're trying to take away your right to due process, which is why it's so important that we're all banded here together to celebrate our right to keep and bear arms so we can at least have a fighting chance and an opportunity to utilize that right for our safety and our families," a speaker at the event said.
Meijer recently joined Walmart, Kroger, and Walgreens in banning customers from openly carrying firearms. Walmart will also limit gun ammo sales which Daley doesn't agree with.
"I understand that people don't want people to get shot, we understand that, but more kids die on bicycle accidents every year. More kids drown in swimming pools. Is Walmart going to stop selling alcohol? Is Walmart going to stop selling bicycles?"
Meijer said that it's asking customers not to open carry because it creates an environment that makes customers and employees feel unsafe. The pro-gun-control "Giffords Law Center" said that open carry is often used to intimidate people and increases the likelihood of violent conflict.
Michigan is one of 31-states that allows people to open carry a handgun or long gun without a permit.
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