(Source: MIRS.news, Published 07/31/2023) The finalized language for a Capitol weapons prohibition does not include exemptions for lawmakers, Rob Blackshaw, executive director of the State Capitol Commission, told the media during the Commission's July meeting.
Blackshaw said that as the policy is written now, it "applies to everyone," including lawmakers.
The policy was not voted on during Monday's meeting, and Commission member John Bollman said the group plans to seek input before voting at the next meeting, but Commission Chair William Kandler said the language introduced is too fresh to have received much in terms of comments from lawmakers.
For years, any number of lawmakers have brought their concealed weapons not only into the Capitol building, but to the House and Senate floors as well. No official count has ever been released, but talking to several sources, the number 20 or so does come up.
In January 2021, the Commission banned firearms with the exception of concealed carry permit (CPL) holders in public interior areas of the Capitol.
Kandler said the step-up in restrictions is not political. He said the Commission was only concerned with building preservation and restoration. When Attorney General Dana Nessel opined that the Commission has the authority to limit gun possession in the Capitol, members felt they had a responsibility to protect "both parties."
Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Alto) disagreed.
"They can write any cowardly resolution they want," she said. "I will continue to carry my weapon."
She said gun violence occurs most frequently in gun-free zones, and "recent history shows us they put more people in danger than they could ever protect.
"If this unelected commission thinks they wield some power higher than the Constitution, they are sorely and legally mistaken," Rigas said. "Myself and like-minded colleagues have no plans to stand idly by as they set out to rob legislators and their constituents of constitutional rights they have no authority to restrict."
The Attorney General has ruled that the commission has the authority to implement the ban, but no one has yet raised the issue to determine if lawmakers have the power to override that.
The only exceptions in the language mentioned by Bollman, who presented the draft language, were for capitol security -- members of the Michigan State Police and House and Senate Sergeants at arms -- along with active duty law enforcement officers, active duty federal enforcement agents and private security personnel carrying out official business with pre-authorization.
Bollman said private security was included after the Commission was informed that some government officials use private security for safety reasons.
But despite some exemptions for private security, the policy does not exempt any private areas of the Capitol, including private legislative offices, Blackshaw said.
"You can't even get in the building," he said.
The language does provide some leeway within the definition of weapons not permitted, including "firearms, explosives and other items identified by capitol security that pose a potential security risk and that are not reasonably necessary to be possessed within the capitol."
Bollman said that wording was chosen specifically after conversations with Capitol facilities staff, who noted that many items used during Capitol maintenance, like hammers, X-acto knives and nail guns, could fall within some definitions of a weapon, but are also needed by both staff and contractors.
"Context matters in this case, so we're asking our Capitol security staff to be that sort of safeguard," Bollman said. "If a construction worker comes through with an X-acto knife working on a carpet on the third floor, they need to be allowed to do that. However, the general public does not need it."
Bollman said the prohibition language is intended to work hand-in-hand with the Capitol's new weapons detection system, which will be annually leased and installed starting Aug. 8, Blackshaw said.
The detection system, which will use software to pick out the shape and makeup of potentially dangerous objects, will flag anything that could be a potential weapon, and alert Capitol security to conduct a secondary inspection.
Blackshaw said the "pass through systems" allow people to travel through much more quickly than a traditional metal detector system, and can alert to 3D printed weapons, or "ghost guns" that wouldn't be picked up via metal detector, but won't stop you for a cell phone.
However, he said the system is also likely to alert on laptops and backpacks, requiring a secondary inspection.
"There are things that will work out as time goes on," Blackshaw said, but when asked about potential delays caused by a large number of legislative employees with laptops, he said, "I don't know until we start really working on it."
Blackshaw said the equipment is being leased annually for $170,000.
However, he said that price does not include secondary equipment, like x-ray machines, that the Commission is looking at to supplement coverage.
The Commission is also considering AI gun detection technology, called ZeroEyes, that could be hooked up to cameras on Capitol Square and used to detect brandished weapons on the Capitol grounds. The technology is roughly $3,000 monthly, Blackshaw said.
The grounds will still be exempt from a weapons prohibition, Kandler said, because the area is too large and expansive to really enforce or control access. But Blackshaw said the AI technology could alert security if a person outside has a weapon and attempts to enter the Capitol.
Blackshaw added that another large portion of potential future costs is hiring additional security members within the House and Senate sergeants, along with the Michigan State Police.
"I think they (House and Senate) want 10 more people each," Blackshaw said, "and the Michigan State Police have a minimum of 10 more people to hire, so that's 30 people minimum to hire, in addition to everything that we're doing here to support the systems."
Blackshaw said he's hopeful that the $5 million allocated in the budget for Capitol security will get the Commission through the first five years of implementing the prohibition, and the Legislature will consider making funding part of the Commission's operational costs after that.
Testing and training will continue throughout August and, if everything is successful, the equipment will go live after the weapons ban is voted through.
Blackshaw said the weapons prohibition language will likely be passed during the Commission's next meeting on Aug. 28, and the new detection system could go live as early as the Tuesday after Labor Day.
"The reason we picked those dates is primarily because that's when the Legislature returns from their summer break," Blackshaw said, as well as when many children's school groups will start returning for Capitol tours.
The east and Heritage Hall entrances will be the ones accessible to the general public, he said, while the north and south entrances will be for swipe card access only, and will also be beefed up with additional Capitol security, along with more pass-through detectors.
