Board OKs anti-gun violence resolution
Passage via remote meeting comes two months after failed Second Amendment sanctuary vote
While Second Amendment backers failed to get Macomb County declared a “sanctuary” region two months ago, those who oppose gun violence got officials to back an anti-gun violence resolution.
After a motion to remove the item from the agenda failed in a 6-6 vote, the board, without discussion and by a 12-0 vote Wednesday approved a resolution that supports June 5 as sixth National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Commissioner Elizabeth Lucido was absent.
“We encourage all citizens to support their local communities’ efforts to prevent the tragic events of gun violence and to honor and value human lives,” the resolution reads.
On March 11 in front of a packed boardroom in the County Administration Building in Mount Clemens, the board voted 7-5 to table a proposed resolution introduced by Commissioner Phil Kraft, a Chesterfield Township Republican who acknowledged it was a mostly symbolic statement to show the county supports gun rights. It would show residents,
“We stand by the Second Amendment,” Kraft said.
That draft said the board “will not appropriate any funds for the enforcement of any unconstitutional firearms laws, or laws that do not allow for due process and that are not in line with the Bill of Rights.”
On Thursday, the meeting was held via Zoom video and the antigun violence resolution passed without much fanfare
Two people spoke over Zoom in favor of the resolution during the public comments item on the agenda.
Pam Leidlein of Macomb Township said her adult daughter, Michelle Packard, was killed by a stray bullet in 2012 while in a Lansing park waiting with her fiance for a fireworks show to start.
“I think of her every day,” Leidlein, clad in an orange shirt and button photo of her late daughter, told the board. “I ask that you think of her June 5th by wearing orange.”
She rattled off several shootings nationwide in the past week. Leidlein noted the board approved a similar motion in 2019
Carmi Finn of Warren, also dressed in orange, told the board the issue is “strictly non-partisan.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone who’s in favor of gun-violence deaths. I don’t think anyone can possibly object to honoring those victims and those who survived,” Finn said. “It’s simply a day to reflect and be aware of the extent of this problem in our county, in our state and in our community.”
The resolution says 1,187 people on average die by guns per year in Michigan, a per capita rate of 11.8 deaths per 100,000 residents, the 30th highest rate in the country.
The resolution says the day of recognition started following the shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton, a teenager who walked in the presidential inaugural parade a few weeks before she was killed.
“We renew our commitment to reduce gun violence and pledge to do all we can to keep firearms out of the wrong hands, and encourage responsible gun ownership to keep our children safe,” the resolution says.