FLINT -- Friday's deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn., is fueling the gun debate in Michigan.
"A whole school was secured and all of a sudden the guy just blew himself in there,” Flint resident Pat Robinson said of the shooter in Friday’s tragedy.
Robinson said it's a scenario that can unfold anywhere, and said the gun laws need to change. But the bill currently awaiting Governor Rick Snyder's signature, he said, is not the right change.
"There's more and more killings every day and we need to control these guns and get 'em off the streets,” Robinson said.
Senate Bill 59 would allow highly-trained gun owners to carry their weapons in schools, churches and other so-called gun-free zones.
Gov. Snyder said the Newtown shooting gives him “clear pause” to examine the bill before making a decision.
Supporters say easing gun restrictions could reduce gun crime, if the right people were allowed to carry.
UM-Flint student Ethan Degallan said, "If someone came in with intent to harm and the person next to me had a concealed weapon, that would definitely make me feel a little bit better."
But criminologists say research doesn't provide a definite answer to the continuing debate.
"The research across time shows really no consistent relationship between increasing concealed weapons and decreasing crime,” Prof. Ken Litwin of UM-Flint’s criminal justice department said.
In the meantime, Gov. Snyder said he'll consider the legislation through the lens of what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
