GOP leader: Bump stock, ghost gun bans ‘dead on arrival’ in Michigan House

• Republican House Speaker Matt Hall says his chamber won’t take up a slew of gun-related bills that passed the Senate this week
• The legislation proposes to ban bump stocks, codify a Capitol firearms ban and prohibit selling what are known as ‘ghost guns’
• Proponents say the bills are necessary to improve public safety, though opponents decried what they say are Second Amendment violations

LANSING — A Democratic push to codify a state Capitol gun ban and bar the sale of both bump stocks and untraceable firearms, known as ghost guns, will go nowhere in the Michigan House, according to its top Republican leader.

“Those are dead on arrival,” House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, told reporters after the gun reform measures passed the state Senate on Wednesday. 

Hall’s comments fell in line with remarks from Senate Republicans, who had decried the packages as efforts to further curb Second Amendment rights in Michigan while punishing law-abiding gun owners. 

Democrats argue it should be “common sense” to ban “ghost guns,” which are homemade firearms that lack traceable serial numbers used by police to investigate crimes, and bump stocks, which enable semiautomatic firearms to shoot at a more rapid pace.

“We want to keep Michiganders safe,” Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, told reporters this week. “Nobody needs a bump stock, which turns a regular gun into a machine gun. Nobody needs a gun in the Capitol. … These are common sense bills.”

Under Senate bills 225 and 226, which passed the Senate in a series of 19-17 party-line votes, a person would be prohibited from carrying a gun into the state Capitol — where most firearms are already banned — along with the Anderson House Office Building and the Binsfeld Senate Office Building unless that person was an actively serving lawmaker with a valid concealed pistol license or member of law enforcement. 

Related:

• With clock ticking, Michigan Dems eye ‘ghost gun,’ bump stock bans
• Michigan ‘red flag’ gun law, year 1: 287 confiscation orders, 84 denials
• Michigan Capitol Commission bans guns, but exempts lawmakers from rule

Violations could result in a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a fine of at most $100 or both. It’s the second time in as many legislative sessions such bills have been introduced, and will likely be the second time they die in the House before reaching the governor’s desk.

Also passing the Senate in party line votes were SB 331 and SB 332, which would ban the manufacturing, selling, purchasing or transferring of guns without a valid serial number, or what the legislation refers to as “ghost guns.”

The proposal would also ban utilizing a 3D printer or "computer numerical control milling machine” to create all or parts of a firearm unless they are a licensed firearm manufacturer. 

The bill would not apply to antique firearms without a serial number or guns in the process of being built. It would also not apply to members of law enforcement, the armed forces or an employee of a forensic laboratory.

A first time violation of the law would carry a misdemeanor penalty punishable by up to one year in jail, a maximum $5,000 fine, or both. A subsequent offense would escalate the violation to a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine.

A bill to ban bump stocks, SB 224, passed the Senate in a bipartisan 22-14 vote, with three Republicans — Sen. Thomas Albert of Lowell, Sen. Mark Huizenga of Walker and Sen. Michael Webber of Rochester Hills — joining Democrats to support the measure.

The legislation would make selling, manufacturing or possessing either a bump stock or “multiburst trigger activator” a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum $2,500 fine or both.

Much like with the Capitol gun ban, efforts to bar bump stocks and ghost guns have been introduced in prior years but not finalized. 

Yet, even with word from House Republican leadership that the bills are unlikely to receive a hearing — let alone a full floor vote in the lower chamber — anti-gun violence groups remain hopeful.

“These measures are crucial for enhancing public safety, and I sincerely hope that the House recognizes their vital importance in saving lives,” Denise Weick, founder of the gun violence prevention group Lock it For Everyone, said in a statement following the Senate vote. 

“We all have a shared responsibility to protect our communities and passing these bills is a critical step towards that goal.”