Back in 2012, the Michigan State Capitol saw a number of protests relating to the "right-to-work" law. It seems the State Capitol Commission didn't take well to that, because in 2013, new rules were enforced: signs were no longer allowed inside the Capitol building.
In an interview with journalist Jonathan Oostling of MLive, the Capitol's Building Facilities Manager Steve Benkovsky found the new rules "bizarre," as protestors carrying guns could now freely enter while those with signs were required to drop them first.
"We just worry about damaging the walls, because on the decorative paint, a sign turning the wrong way or even a rifle can gouge the thing."
Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) has heard the suspicions about the connections between the events of 2012 and 2013. Sen. Moss is not content with the policy, regardless of its origin. He called the current rules an obstacle
Sen. Jeremy Moss
to hinder community political involvement.
"I'm not sure if [the protests] prompted the change. But that's the rumor," he said. "… It's a way to stop the momentum of someone coming up to the capitol and wanting to be engaged in their state government."
On Sept. 10 of this year, he introduced a bill to reconsider these rules governing the Capitol. And this date is a very significant one for the politics involved.
"It was introduced a month and a half ago because it was Open Carry Day. You could open carry anywhere in Michigan including the State Capitol. When you walk in the Capitol building, the only thing explicitly banned is signs," he said.
For Sen. Moss, the contradiction between open carry and prohibition of signs is what bothers him the most about this situation.
He calls this juxtaposition a "hypocrisy." This is not the first time he has attempted this bill, but there is always intentionality behind his placement of the date.
"By design, we introduce it each year on Open Carry Day to display a bit of the hypocrisy in state government," Moss said.
He noted that retailers across the country have requested customers not to bring weapons into stores, and federal buildings, too, do not allow open carry. In the same breath, many of these places are perfectly fine with signs being brought in. However, in Michigan, the rules are somehow reversed.
"The only thing we care about in the Capitol," Sen. Moss said, "is cardboard. I think that that is an imbalance in priorities here in Michigan."
Ironically, it seems that the Michigan State Capitol Commission put the rules into place because the commissioners were concerned for the safety of the building. Sen. Moss explained this as being mostly about what would happen if a sign were to fall on the ground or something similar.
"At the time they said they were worried that signs in the Capitol would damage the walls," he said.
But Sen. Moss is not convinced by this reasoning.
"I've been pushing against the logic," he says, "because a malfunctioning gun does worse for the decor of the Capitol than a sign. This is the people's building. If they really want to express their grievances, I don't think banning signs should be used to curb that excitement."
While Sen. Moss is constantly juxtaposing the freedom to carry with the freedom to protest, his goal is not really to speak out against open carry in general. But he is thinking about smaller ways to deal with issues related to gun violence.
"In years past, we've talked about ways to reduce gun violence. And we do have security personnel in both chambers of the Capitol building," he said. "… However, I don't see a need for open carry inside the Capitol."
Currently, Sen. Moss does not anticipate much pushback against the bill, but there is still is not the enthusiasm he hopes for.
"We're just trying to highlight that the First Amendment protection should be upheld as much as the Second Amendment protection," Moss said. "Procedurally, I'm not sure there's an appetite to hold this legislation up."
While this is just one bill, it connects to many of the changes Sen. Moss is trying to see to fruition in his role.
"I've been focused primarily on good government reforms like making sure open records are available to the public," he said, adding that for years he has been "a fierce advocate of freedom of information policies here in Michigan."
And while he sees this bill to allow freedom of speech in the Capitol as good and important work, he is working on bigger changes in Lansing as well.
