A bill package introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives earlier this month seeks to remove regulations on gun ownership in the state by allowing all firearm owners the same rights as open or concealed carry permit holders.

House Bills 4710, 4711 and 4715, sponsored by state Reps. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia), Bryan Posthumus (R-Greenville) and Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township), would allow any legal gun owner to carry their firearm in areas previously designated for open carry or CPL holders only.

The House package comes after the introduction of similar legislation in the Senate in May, which has since remained stalled in the Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. Republican lawmakers also have introduced legislation in previous sessions.

Rigas described the package in a statement as crucial to making Michigan a “free state.” She said that even though the bills likely won’t pass the Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate, they’re symbolic of a larger issue.

“We will remind this government that its job is to serve its people — all its people,” Rigas said. “And we won’t let freedoms die in secret and in silence. Even if all we can do is protest, we will do so at the top of our lungs.”

The bills would also strike Michigan’s “duty to inform” clause, which requires gun owners to inform law enforcement if they’re carrying a firearm, typically in traffic stops or other contact with law enforcement.

The GOP legislation was introduced after Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this spring signed a gun reform package for background checks, safe storage of firearms and extreme risk protection orders, also known as “red flag” laws.

Posthumus said in a prepared statement that the bills would remove “additional regulation” to owning and carrying firearms.

“Our state is set up in such a way that if you are legally able to obtain a gun here, you are allowed to own and operate that weapon,” Posthumus said. “Why then should an additional regulation exist to create a subclass of ‘double’ approved gun owners?”

Twenty-six states currently have some form of permitless carry laws on the books. The laws are sometimes referred to as “constitutional” or “unrestricted” carry policies.

Representatives for the gun violence prevention organizations Everytown and Moms Demand Action did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

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