NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, July 6, 2001

However, county prosecutors are not pleased. At least 10 have quit gun boards since the state Supreme Court let the concealed-weapons law take effect on July 1.

The state's highest court voted 4-3 last week to overturn an appellate court ruling that would have delayed implementation of the gun law pending a public referendum on the November 2002 ballot.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III contends the concealed-carry measure is unconstitutional because gun boards lack funding to review the flood of applications and don't have enough time to conduct criminal background checks.

The law gives gun boards 30 days to check an applicant's mental health and military records. Any legal resident, 21 years or older, not a felon and with no history of mental illness is eligible for a license to carry a concealed firearm. All applicants must pass an eight-hour firearms training safety class.

The new law requires gun control boards to grant permits to all qualified applicants.

Previously, county gun control boards rejected most applications, but the new law turns the board into a virtual rubber stamp.

"If my gun board gives me the go-ahead, I'm definitely going to bring a legal challenge to the law," Dunning told Thursday's Detroit News. "This was an absolutely horrible piece of legislation, a sham reform."

Dunning said he was considering resigning from his county gun board.

Prosecutors in Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw, Bay, Kalamazoo, Barry, Allegan, Eaton, Marquette and Kent counties have resigned from their boards in protest.

The new law makes schools, day-care centers, churches, stadiums, hospitals, bars, casinos and college dorms gun-free zones.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

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