On Election Day this year, citizens in the state of Michigan will not be allowed to open carry at polling places to avoid fear and intimidation among voters.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, issued the new guidance which states: “The presence of firearms at the polling place, clerk’s office(s), or absent voter counting board may cause disruption, fear or intimidation for voters, election workers and others present.”
Many state officials, including the attorney general’s office and the Michigan State Police, will need to work together to ensure the new order is followed.
According to Truthout, the new rules forbidding open carry at election sites comes a week after it was announced that federal officials had thwarted a plot by Michigan militia members to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan). Those involved in the plot had planned to abduct Whitmer at her summer vacation home using explosives to distract police, and then to transport her to Wisconsin in order to stand trial for treason in a kangaroo court set up by themselves.
With this new rule comes a lot of backlash. Three gun rights groups have sued Benson demanding their state right to openly carry firearms on Election Day.
These gun rights groups represent many thousands of members who choose to openly carry firearms into polling places on Election Day as a means of pronouncing their viewpoint on the Second Amendment, reports Bridge Michigan.
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