Lame Duck Bill in Michigan Could Help Illegal Immigrants Get Carry Licenses

Michigan Democrats are set to lose control of the state House in just a few weeks, which means this year’s lame-duck session has been a mad scramble as they try to pass scores of bills while they still can. 

Among the pieces of legislation they’re pushing towards Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk is a bill that would illegal immigrants obtain a Michigan driver’s license. While that’s controversial enough on its own, some opponents of the measure are pointing out that it would also help aid those same illegal immigrants in obtaining a Concealed Pistol License in the state. 

Michigan Sheriff’s Association Executive Director Matt Saxton said another concern about the proposed legislation surfaced last week when he was researching a different package of bills.

“We were looking at other bills and said wait a second: If an individual gets a state ID, that’s going to allow them to also get their CPL, because once you have a driver’s license, as long as your fingerprints aren’t on file (showing a criminal record), nothing will come back on a background check, either with the state or at the federal level.”

Under Michigan’s rules for obtaining concealed pistol licenses, applicants must be at least 21 years old, have a valid Michigan driver’s license or ID card, or “be a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted into the United States.” A federal criminal background check is also required.

While it’s true that under Michigan law you must be a citizen or legal resident before acquiring a concealed carry license, Saxton and others note that there’s no real way of checking the applicant’s legal status. A background check will note any criminal activity that might be a prohibiting factor, but it won’t reveal whether the applicant is in the country legally. 

Robert Stevenson, who’s the head of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, argues that after someone’s obtained a driver’s license, they can get their CPL, and “if the identity on your paperwork was fictitious, and you were never fingerprinted in a country that shares information with us, there’s nothing that’ll stop that person from getting their CPL. It could be anyone, and we have no way of vetting them.”

Michigan Rep. Tyrone Carter, a Detroit Democrat who’s sponsoring the bills, called the criticism a “stretch”, but admitted that he hadn’t really thought about how the legislation would impact the ability of illegal immigrants to unlawfully get a carry permit.

But he said the concerns expressed by critics are “just more of their fearmongering.”

“If someone comes to this country wanting to carry out a terror attack, he’s not going to bother going to get his CPL,” he said.

When gun owners point out that criminals aren’t going to obey the law we’re told that’s no reason not to support a particular gun control law, but when a gun control advocate like Carter uses that same argument we’re just supposed to accept it.?

Let’s assume that Carter’s right, and would-be terrorists aren’t going to jump through the hoops and hurdles necessary to get a carry license. There are still plenty of bad actors crossing our borders who might take advantage of the law, if for no other reason than to be able to carry without catching a felony charge and the possibility of deportation. 

Stevenson said he could list several reasons terrorists might want a concealed weapon license.

“If you’re a terrorist, why wouldn’t you want a CPL, so you could take your gun into places without worrying about getting arrested?” said Stevenson, a former Livonia detective and police chief. “I’m sorry, I just don’t think it’s a good idea to give people CPLs, when you have absolutely no way of vetting them.”

I don’t think most criminals care about “gun-free zones”, but if illegal immigrants see value in obtaining a driver’s license then it’s not a stretch to think that at least some of them will also want to be able to carry a firearm… even if it means lying about their immigration status to get a carry permit. 

Gun control fans like Carter regularly talk about the need to pass more laws to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but those concerns take a back seat when it comes to aiding those in this country illegally. And oddly enough, while gun control groups decry every attempt to expand the right to carry among lawful citizens, they’re keeping quiet about the bills that would allow illegal immigrants to illegally obtain a Michigan carry license. Funny how that works, isn’t it?