Schools, churches, and medical facilities. They are currently pistol-free zones but could allow those who have advanced training to conceal a weapon inside.
Buena Vista Township's Claude Linton says, "I think that's crazy. That's insane. How? What? How are you going to praise the Lord if you're packing a .38?"
Saginaw's Phillip Engler says, "I think that's crazy. They already have permits to carry. I understand that some people need it, but to let people come into schools and hospitals? I think it's outrageous, and they need to stop it now."
Others say pistol-free zones are criminal empowerment zones that restrict law-abiding citizens.
The bill's sponsor, Senator Mike Green from the Thumb area says, "We found in the last 12-years that that is when most of all shootings occur is some of those areas. Somebody, somewhere, in a school or church, somebody ought to have a gun to protect themselves and others."
The bill would allow legal gun owners to conceal weapons in those areas as long as they went through more training.
Green says Michigan's open-carry law currently allows legal gun owners to carry in those zones openly.
"We've been asked by superintendents, hospital folks, that they would rather if you can't stop them from carrying open, can you at least have them carry concealed?" says Green.
Supporters say the law should make people feel safer.
Brian Schuman teaches concealed weapons classes in Birch Run. He says, "Every single time there's been a mass shooting, as soon as that individual doing the shooting has been engaged by someone else, innocent lives cease being lost."
