Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was never going to be a fan of the Second Amendment. Even before an armed protest in the Capitol that she really didn’t like and then a kidnapping plot by a group whose competence was somewhere between a kindergarten class and the Cub Scouts.

I get her being skittish and all, but it doesn’t excuse her assaults on the Second Amendment with regard to the state capitol. Of course, she’s chugging right along on those, too.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer included funds to implement a complete firearms ban in the state Capitol in her state budget proposal, one month after open carry was banned.

The budget proposal and a concealed carry ban would have to be passed by the Republican-led Legislature whose leaders have expressed opposition to such a ban.

Then why is Whitmer pushing this?

See, among anti-gun Democrats, it’s not a matter of working with what’s available to you. It’s about signaling your anti-gun virtue with every fiber of your being. Even if you know something isn’t likely to pass, you still push it none the less.

For Whitmer, she’s likely to use this to try and paint Republicans as vehement opponents of safety, sensibility, and good taste in an effort to discredit them in the eyes of the voters.

Of course, Michigan isn’t exactly a one-sided state, as the legislature’s makeup tells us. Yet Democrats tend to forget that Republicans aren’t all that anti-gun. If you want to woo them over to your side, you desperately need to do something besides rolling even further to the left. That’s just not likely to yield you the results you want.

But Whitmer is unlikely to take the hint. She’s been on a moral crusade about this since a protest took place telling her she was a jack-booted tyrant for her lockdown rules last year. Of course, the protestors were right, but because they had guns, she’s been able to deflect all that criticism and run around with her hair on fire about how there were people with firearms and isn’t that just icky?

Of course, those individuals represented zero threat at all. It was a lawful protest and no one was ever in any danger.

Unfortunately, though, because the protestors were armed, that’s all anyone has focused on. She’s been able to deflect all criticisms of her handling of the pandemic because she can look at the media and point out the protestors had guns and that’s literally all anyone will think about for days after.

It’s why armed protests aren’t really an ideal way to address a problem. When you know the media is against you, you have to be smart. Giving them something to get the vapors over just lets them ignore your message.

And then you get a governor who will use that to try and further restrict gun rights in your state. Sure, it’s just keeping them out of the capitol, which to anti-gunners is a nothing move, but it’s still your rights being infringed.

Frankly, my hope is Michigan voters have enough of Whitmer’s nonsense and just vote her out.