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Attorney general says commission can ban guns from Michigan Capitol

The State Capitol Commission will meet Monday to discuss guns in the Capitol.

Credit: AP

A protester carries his rifle at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., Thursday, April 30, 2020. Hoisting American flags and handmade signs, protesters returned to the state Capitol to denounce Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-home order and business restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic while lawmakers met to consider extending her emergency declaration hours before it expires. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says a commission overseeing the state Capitol can legally ban guns from the building, contradicting panel leaders’ contention that only the Legislature can do so.

Nessel, a Democrat, wrote a letter to the State Capitol Commission on Friday.

Its members will meet Monday to discuss guns in the Capitol after some demonstrators armed with assault rifles entered the building last week to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order.

The commission’s vice chairman says the panel has no jurisdiction to prohibit weapons. But Nessel says the commission is similar to the state Supreme Court, which has prohibited weapons in courtrooms.

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