Matt Schmucker
Dewitt resident Erik Kupsis fires his gun on the shooting range at Total Firearms in Delhi Township, Michigan on Oct. 7. According to the safety officer on the range at the time, Kupsis was shooting an HK pistol.
Matt Schmucker
Targets are positioned on the indoor gun range at Total Firearms in Delhi Township on Sept. 24. The range at Total Firearms has five shooting spaces for customers to use.
Matt Schmucker
Dewitt resident Erik Kupsis stands, firing his gun on the shooting range at Total Firearms in Delhi Township, Michigan on Oct. 7. Kupsis had always hunted, but just started shooting the pistol, and usually tries shooting once a week. Kupsis thinks it's valuable to know how to shoot responsibly for self-defense.
Matt Schmucker
Dewitt resident Erik Kupsis aims his gun on the shooting range at Total Firearms in Delhi Township, Michigan on Oct. 7. Kupsis started getting into shooting more regularly this February, because of what he called some "turbulence" in reference to today's climate. He had always hunted, but just started shooting the pistol, and usually tries shooting once a week. Kupsis thinks it's valuable to know how to shoot responsibly for self-defense. According to the safety officer on the range at the time, Kupsis was shooting an HK pistol.
Matt Schmucker
A row of guns are laid out in Total Firearms in Delhi Township on Sept. 24. Total Firearms also features sections for archery and fishing.
Matt Schmucker
Dewitt resident Erik Kupsis loads his gun on the shooting range at Total Firearms in Delhi Township, Michigan on Oct. 7. Kupsis started getting into shooting more regularly this February, because of what he called some "turbulence" in reference to today's climate.
Matt Schmucker
A scoped rifle sits out on the counter at Total Firearms in Delhi Township on Sept. 24. Total Firearms has a section for both a gun range and a gun shop.
Guns have been a hot topic of discussions in several recent election cycles. As the 2018 election winds down, here’s a rundown of what some candidates in two hotly contested races have been saying about gun rights and gun control in Michigan.
Governor
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer and Republican Bill Schuette have opposes stances in many gun-related topics.
Schuette, Michigan’s outgoing attorney general, is the gun rights advocate of the two. An official statement on his website says, “I am an avid hunter and protector of our 2nd Amendment rights.” Schuette’s campaign has also bragged about his A+ rating from the National Rifle Association.
Schuette has proposed a “Hunters’ Bill of Rights.” According to a press release from Schuette’s office, this includes proposals to affirm with a resolution that “the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife is a valued part of Michigan’s heritage and a preferred means of managing wildlife for generations to come,” remove a prohibition on transporting uncased hunting firearms on private property, and strengthen trespassing laws by increasing fines for trespassing to hunt on private property.
Mitchell Tucker, an employee of Total Firearms in Delhi Township, said Schuette is favored by a majority of people around the gun shop and range.
Tucker said his personal stance varies slightly from Schuette’s, though he’s a self-proclaimed “bit of an oddball” for an employee of a gun store.
“We don’t need more laws to protect gun owners,” Tucker said.
Whitmer has been in favor of various gun control proposals throughout her political career, and her NRA has given her a rating of F. Whitmer voted with her party in November 2017 to oppose legislation to allow concealed firearms to be carried inside of schools, churches and bars, as well as to oppose legislation that let 18-20-year-olds obtain provisional concealed carry permits, according The Associated Press.
U.S. House
Both candidates in the race for Michigan’s 8th Congressional District have campaigned in support of the Second Amendment.
Incumbent Republican Mike Bishop sports an A/A+ rating from the NRA.
His opponent, Democrat Elissa Slotkin, stated on her website that she believes “that individuals across our district, state, and country who operate guns with care and safety should be allowed to exercise the right to do so.”
Slotkin served as an intelligence officer alongside the military in Iraq. Slotkin has campaigned for what she calls “common sense gun legislation,”which would prohibit terrorists, the mentally ill and domestic abusers from buying firearms. Her “common sense gun legislation” would also prevent ordinary citizens from purchasing guns “that allow them to outgun their local police or military.”
This means that in this race in Michigan’s 8th District, both representatives campaign in favor of the Second Amendment.