Welcome back, Wyatt Earp
Monday, September 26, 2005 3:04 PM EDT
Commentary by Dave Frownfelder
Have our legislators been watching too many John Wayne westerns lately? Under a measure introduced in the state House recently, Michigan residents, without facing prosecution, would be allowed to shoot and kill someone who breaks into their home or vehicle.
Did I step into a time machine and reappear in 1880s Tombstone, Ariz.? Paranoia and personal property overtook common sense and self-restraint in drafting this measure.
Michigan's concealed weapons law is menacing enough without giving would-be Dirty Harrys the green light to start blasting away when somebody breaks a window in their home. That may be taking the idea to an extreme, but that's society today, one extreme or the other, with very little middle ground.
What happens if someone simply takes a shortcut and trespasses across your lawn? Is a warning shot required or can you shoot to disable?
Even Tombstone in the 1880s had laws on where guns could be used. Personal protection was always the most important consideration.
However, the Michigan Legislature is almost making it mandatory to be packing heat when you go out. You never know who may be armed and ready to get John Wesley Hardin on you.
The measures - House Bills 5142 and 5143 - were referred to the House Judiciary Committee Sept. 7, but no dates have been set for action. The two-bill package assumes that a person who forcibly enters or intrudes in a home or occupied vehicle intends to kill or hurt the owner or occupant.
Isn't that the opposite of our judicial system, which operates on the presumption of innocent until proven guilty? This law presupposes the worst.
The Michigan bills are patterned after measures recently enacted in Florida. The Florida law takes effect Oct. 1 and gives residents the right to defend themselves in public places, including on the street or in a place of business.
Apparently lawmakers want to see life imitate art, judging by the shoot-outs seen regularly on television and in movies. Noting that the 2001 law made it easier to obtain a concealed weapons permit in Michigan, a spokesperson for the Michigan Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence pointed out the obvious failing of this new effort.
"This is basically saying guns are going to be the first resort. It's more likely you're going to end up shooting your son coming home late from a date...than you are an intruder," said Carolynne Jarvis.
How long before Michigan has a must-carry weapons law? Don't hand me the garbage about "An armed society is a polite society," either. An armed society is an angry society. It is also a paranoid one that doesn't trust anybody.
Thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not kill are two of the Ten Commandments. Does the Legislature mean to make one commandment more important than another?
Our society has already made life one of the cheapest commodities going these days. But, I was taught that life - even that of a crackhead-junkie-thief - is worth more than a television set.
Have we forgotten that, or is the value of life now measured by degree?
David Frownfelder is a staff writer for The Daily Telegram. He can be contacted at 265-5111, ext. 258, or via e-mail at
frownfelder@lenconnect.com.
