[LAUREN TAYLOR]

HOLTON TOWNSHIP IN MICHIGAN DECLARES ITSELF A “SECOND AMENDMENT SANCTUARY CITY.”

EARLIER THIS MONTH, THE HOLTON TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES PASSED THE RESOLUTION FORMING THE “HOLTON TOWNSHIP MILITIA.”

TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR ALAN JAGER SAYS THE RESOLUTION IS IN RESPONSE TO RED FLAG LAWS SIGNED INTO LAW BY MICHIGAN GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER EARLIER THIS YEAR.

THOSE RED FLAG LAWS ALLOW MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, LAW ENFORCEMENT OR FAMILY MEMBERS WHO MAY BE CONCERNED ABOUT SOMEONE HARMING THEMSELVES OR OTHERS TO SEEK A COURT ORDER TO “TEMPORARILY CONFISCATE THEIR FIREARMS.”

WHEN WHITMER SIGNED THE BILLS INTO LAW, SHE SAID RED FLAG LAWS HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO SAVE LIVES.

JAGER SAYS THE HOLTON TOWNSHIP RESOLUTION WILL ENSURE CITIZENS WILL HAVE DUE PROCESS BEFORE THEIR FIREARMS ARE TAKEN AWAY. HE SPOKE TO FOX 17 NEWS.

[ALAN JAGER / HOLTON TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR]

“Due process is necessary for all of us to have a right to defend ourselves before you take our guns away.”

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

JAGER SAY THE RESOLUTION WILL HELP CITIZENS WHO ARE A PART OF THE MILITIA TO EXPLAIN THEIR CASE IN COURT IF SOMEONE SEEKS OUT A COURT ORDER AGAINST THEM – SEEKING TO TAKE AWAY THEIR GUNS.

AND THIS ISN’T THE FIRST MILITIA FORMED IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN.THE MICHIGAN MILITIA DATES BACK TO 1994. THE GROUP WAS DISCOVERED IN 1995, AFTER TIMOTHY MCVEIGH AND TERRY NICHOLS ATTENDED EARLIER MEETINGS AND CARRIED OUT THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBINGS WHICH KILLED 168 PEOPLE.

THE GROUP RESURFACED AGAIN IN 2008 – BEFORE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TOOK OFFICE.

THEN, IN OCTOBER 2020, FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCED INDICTMENTS AGAINST 13 PEOPLE — MOST OF WHICH WERE A PART OF THE MILITIA “WOLVERINE WATCHMEN,”  WHO WERE CHARGED IN CONNECTION TO PLOTTING THE KIDNAPPING AND KILLING OF GOVERNOR WHITMER.

THE SECOND AMENDMENT STATES “A WELL REGULATED MILITIA, BEING NECESSARY TO THE SECURITY OF A FREE STATE, THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED,” HOWEVER COURTS HAVE RULED THAT FIREARMS CAN BE REGULATED – SUCH AS WHEN AND HOW THEY CAN BE CARRIED.

JAGER SAYS THE MOVE IS MORE SYMBOLIC — HE DOESN’T WANT CITIZENS RUNNING AROUND TOWN WITH GUNS.

CITIZENS WILL HAVE A RIGHT TO JOIN THE VOLUNTARY MILITIA ON PAPER, AND THEY WILL BE REQUIRED TO PASS A FEDERAL BACKGROUND CHECK.