Why the concealed gun law allowed prosecutors to quit gun boards
Published: Monday, June 27, 2011, 6:31 AM Updated: Monday, June 27, 2011, 10:19 AM
Ten years after lawmakers made it easier for Michigan residents to carry concealed handguns, Juris Kaps hasn't changed his mind about removing himself from his county's gun board.Just as was his stance in 2001, the Van Buren County prosecutor wants no part of the law's “shall issue” process, in which 95 percent of applicants received concealed permits last year.
“I have a lot of things to do and I've got better things to do than be a rubber stamp,” said Kaps, prosecutor in the county since 1982. “Why would I want to waste time doing that?”
Twelve Michigan prosecuting attorneys have chosen not to sit on their counties' concealed weapons licensing boards, a Booth Michigan survey of the state's 83 prosecutors found.
The counties include nearly 40 percent of the population eligible for the permits, ages 21 and older. Four of the state's 10 largest counties are among them - Wayne, Kent, Washtenaw and Kalamazoo.
Prior to the law's passage, it was mandatory for prosecutors to sit on their county gun boards. The new legislation let them opt out.
“They were totally against the bill and they did not want to be on the board that mandated that they had to give a gun to someone, the right to carry the gun, if they didn't like them,” said state Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville, who as a state representative was primary sponsor of Michigan's “shall-issue” concealed weapons law.
“We said, 'OK, fine. You don't want to be on the board, good. We'll get somebody else, get somebody that cares.'”
In their place, the law allows a licensed firearms instructor to be appointed by the county board. The three-person panel also includes a representative from the state police and county sheriff's department. The county clerk acts as secretary.
Initially after the law took effect on July 1, 2001, 17 prosecutors excused themselves from their county gun boards.
Kaps was part of that original group, as were his counterparts in three nearby counties: Allegan's Fred Anderson, Kent's William Forsyth, and Kalamazoo's Jim Gregart. Gregart retired in 2003. His successor, Jeff Fink, also chose not to join the board.
Their reasons differ.
Anderson, Allegan County's prosecutor for 19 years, ended his membership two days after the law took effect.
In his July 3, 2001, letter to the chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, Anderson said he expected to face “an increased number of conflict of interest issues” in that he would also be responsible for prosecuting any criminal violations committed by a license holder.
“If I'm not disqualified, as prosecutor, I am not only the prosecuting official, but also the judge and jury in the license revocation process, not a desirable situation.”
He also said in a recent interview that his dual role as the county's civil attorney would place him in the position of providing legal advice to the body during meetings that are completely open to the public.
For others, the situation wasn't as complicated.
In Hillsdale County, Prosecutor Neal Brady said he did not want to “take the easy way out” by opting off.
“I wanted to be part of this new process and see how it turned out from the inside as opposed to dismissing it altogether,” said Brady, prosecutor the past 15 years. “I thought that not being involved would not be serving the public that I was elected to serve.”
Jackson County Prosecutor Henry Zavislak, who has served for eight years, also said he saw little benefit in excusing himself from a board on which he had served as an assistant prosecutor. He admits he had concerns in 2001 that putting more firearms in residents' hands could have negative consequences.
That phenomenon never came to pass, he said. Kaps, who said he shared Zavislak's fears, agreed.
Of 24 charges filed last year against concealed license holders in Van Buren, many were for alcohol offenses or misdemeanor assaults. Just four involved people with guns: resisting an officer, possessing a gun while intoxicated, assault with a dangerous weapon, and reckless discharge of a firearm.
“The incidents that have occurred have been isolated,” Kaps said. “I think that the whole situation has been much more of a non-issue … To a certain extent I would have to concede that, and I would have to concede that I was wrong.”
Still, Kaps said his other “philosophical” concerns about the law and the way gun boards operate have not waned.
He also has concerns that gun boards are issuing licenses without access to any database that tracks residents with mental illness or who “are not equipped to carry a firearm.” While gun boards are able to conduct criminal background searches, the absence of a true check on their mental health is a concern.
“There was no way of checking it and it was, 'OK, do I really want to get into a situation where my stamp of approval is on someone who is mentally deranged?'”
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