LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Several gun advocate groups hoping to stop gun legislation from reaching the Governor’s desk were denied their lawsuit by the Court of Claims earlier this week. 

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Michigan Open Carry and Great Lakes Gun Rights filed a lawsuit against the Michigan House and Senate earlier this month, under the claim that the Legislature would not listen to their pro-gun testimonies in committee hearings regarding the gun reform legislation. 

The Michigan Court of Claims denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order.  Instead, Judge Thomas Cameron said that the groups failed to: establish immediate and irreparable injury, identify what defendants’ specific rules are and how they violated them under the Open Meetings Act, and show that the balancing of harms and public interest weighted in favor of granting a temporary restraining order or order to show cause. 

At the same time that the decision was made, the legislature passed more gun legislation affirming red flag laws. It passed by a margin of three votes along party lines with the final votes 20 in favor and 17 opposed. ERPO laws, also called “red flag” laws, would enable family members, past dating partners, and medical professionals to petition for a court order to remove firearms from an individual deemed a risk to themselves and others. 

Attorney General Dana Nessel, who voiced support for ERPO laws, has also come out in defense of the new legislation. 

“If these recent gun safety laws should be challenged in court, I want the people of Michigan to know it will be my duty and honor to defend them. When these laws are enacted, I will use every tool of my office to ensure Michigan residents are informed of these laws and that they will be vigorously enforced,” she said in a statement. 

Previously, a representative from the Michigan Open Carry, Tom Lambert, spoke out against how they were limited during the committee hearings. 

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“We were repeatedly denied the opportunity to testify in public hearings before our elected officials – the officials who work for us,” Lambert said in a news release. “No legislative body is allowed to supersede our natural rights which are affirmed in the U.S. Constitutional and Michigan law itself. Our lawsuit plainly explains the unconstitutional actions which took place, and what we’re asking the court to do to rectify the injustices that were carried out by legislators in the House and Senate.”

Currently, the ERPO legislation awaits the Governor’s consideration without any court restraints.