Michigan's Gun Rights On Ballot

Michigan voters go to the polls Nov. 3 in an election that will decide whether a state task force's gun ban wish list becomes law.

What's on the line: Every seat matters this cycle. Republicans hold the state House 58-52; Democrats control the Senate 20-18. A four-seat Democrat pickup flips the House. A two-seat Republican pickup flips the Senate. Whoever wins both chambers controls the agenda — and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Gun Violence Prevention Task Force has already written one.

The task force recommendations:

• Ban the sale, possession, manufacture or transfer of so-called "assault weapons"
• Prohibit "large capacity" magazines outright
• Raise the firearm purchase age to 21 and mandate waiting periods on every purchase
• Impose new licensing, recordkeeping and inspection requirements on retailers

None of that is enacted law yet. But Whitmer revived the task force in June to push implementation, and the next governor and legislature inherit whatever comes next.

The Senate race is the headline fight. Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed told a crowd in an April 2023 video that the Constitution should be amended so that "instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have healthcare." In a separate campaign-trail clip, he argued the Second Amendment only ever protected muskets for state militias — a reading the U.S. Supreme Court flatly rejected in District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, militia service or not. El-Sayed's campaign told The Reload he "respects" the Second Amendment but wouldn't say whether he still backs replacing it.

El-Sayed is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has called for ending lifetime Supreme Court appointments and killing the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold — a change that would make it far easier to pass gun control through a simple majority.

What his opponent brings: Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former congressman, voted for the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act in 2005 and national concealed carry reciprocity legislation in 2011 before leaving the House in 2015. Gun control groups aren't waiting around — NSSF has documented a $1 million opening ad campaign from GIFFORDS PAC targeting Rogers.

The governor's race mirrors the divide. Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has rolled out endorsements from GIFFORDS PAC, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action. Republican U.S. Rep. John James has committed to signing permitless concealed carry legislation, according to the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners' PAC.

Yes, but: Repealing the Second Amendment itself would require a constitutional amendment ratified by 38 states — nothing on Michigan's ballot gets El-Sayed anywhere near that. What a Senate seat does give him is a vote on gun legislation and on judicial confirmations, the people who decide how far Heller and Bruen actually reach.

What's next: Early voting runs through Nov. 1, with Election Day Nov. 3. Michigan allows same-day registration in person through Election Day. Voters can check registration status and research every name on the ballot at GUNVOTE.org.

The people elected this cycle cast the next votes on firearm restrictions and judicial nominees. That's the whole stakes, in one sentence.