Just wanted to show you the email response I got from the city manager.
Yes I am very familiar MOC Inc. I am an avid hunter and own quite a collection of hand guns. Your statement that Rockford is not complying with Michigan laws is uneducated and false. We have had several instances the last few years where individuals have openly carried in compliance with the law. Have you received any complaints about our enforcement of the open carry laws? I'm guessing not. If you want to have a mature discussion about any of our ordinances that may be outdated, please contact Chief Dave Jones (866-9557). If you simply want to show up at a Council meeting with an open handgun on your side to make a point, that is your right too. I would hope you know that local ordinances can not supersede State Laws so again, if we need to clean up some ordinance language, that can be accomplished very easily.
Michael F. Young
city manager
Wow... this is the oddest response I've ever seen. I think this person has some issues that go beyond anything that was asked; I think we get some clues as to what his "issues" are later in his response.
To state that the law in Rockford IS in compliance with state law, even though the plain wording of the ordinance seems to contradict his statement deserves at least an explanation. Anything would be a better response by the city than "Yes they are". Furthermore, calling anyone who disagrees "uneducated" seems to be turning the asking of a question into an invitation to a duel.
He then amazingly, seems to insinuate that the communication he received about this was "immature". My "contact" regarding this was a quick question of a judge who's bench covers the Rockford area. I asked my aquaitence if contact had been made yet and he apologized that he had tried only 2 times since my request to communicate with the city... and never had spoken with whom he intended.
Here's what I think happened: Mr Young got a letter/email/ telephone call asking him about Rockfords Ordinances... ordinances which appear to violate state law. Mr Young decided to do a little research about MI Open Carry and performed a web search. He started reading about the events in Royal Oak and, combined with my sarcastic statement about a large number of OCers paying Rockford a visit, he got nervous. He really doesn't want a bunch of OCers showing up and making "bad-press" for the city.
There are two ways people generally deal with fear: "flight", or as Mr Young apparently chose, "fight". But he is not just going to say that Rockford can do what it wants, and that we OCers are so uneducated that we most likely don't even know how to read, let alone read "LAW"... Goodness, people spend 3 years studying law, how can these immature, uneducated, bumpkins even pretend to understand the wording. So, he throws the insults, says that the ordinances are in line with state lae, and that it is we OCers who are wrong.
While reading his response, my first thought was that there truly are some jobs where social and communication skills take a back seat to just spouting-off anything that comes to mind.
