When armed protestors took to the Michigan State Capitol to protest the lockdown, I doubt many of them thought their actions would be used to justify gun control. After all, they were there about the lockdown, right?

Unfortunately, whether them being armed or not was the right call, some in the state have latched onto their actions as an excuse to limit where guns can be carried in the state.

Luckily, for now, that’s mostly confined to whether or not they can carry in the capitol or not.

So far, there hasn’t been a decision about changing the rules for the capitol, but the subject has come up once again.

There are developments today on how much it would cost to ban all weapons in the state Capitol building.

The State Capitol Commission is considering the issue of should guns continue to be allowed in the Capitol.

There are currently three options on the table:

Guns in Capitol?

(1) Do Nothing, which would continue to allow weapons in the building

(2) Ban Long Guns

(3) Total Ban All Guns

If the Commission votes to ban all weapons, and there is no indication that that will happen, there is a cost for metal detectors and x-ray machines much like you see at your airport.

And much like the TSA, the state would have to hire five employees to operate these checkpoints in the Capitol.

The total cost runs from $500,000  and $1.3 million.

This is a state running a $3 billion deficit and has a Republican-controlled legislature.

Somehow, I don’t see a total gun ban happening. However, it wouldn’t need to in order to quell the fearmongering that took place following the protests in the capitol.

Most of those protestors were carrying long guns. While long guns are rarely used in crimes, they’re scarier to people who don’t know any better. Further, they not concealable, which means there’s no reason to need to install metal detectors.

Now, I am not advocating for that position. While I disagreed with protesting the lockdown while armed–I support their right to do it, I just don’t think it was a good idea for strategic reasons–I don’t want to see the carry of any firearm limited in any way. I’m simply pointing out that this is an option.

More importantly, it’s an option that would probably satisfy the loudest in the state without really creating a huge difficulty for most folks who visit the capitol for whatever reason.

What we all need to do is hope that the legislature opts not to do either in hopes that Gretchen Whitmer’s actions during the lockdown rile up the voters to the point that she doesn’t get a second term. I won’t hold my breath for that to be the case, but that would likely put an end to much of this effort.

For sure, we know that a total gun ban is probably not going to happen with regard to the capitol. That’s just too much money and it wouldn’t be necessary to put an end to the grumbling.