GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man is being praised for shooting and killing a gunman in an Indiana mall, sparking conversations about gun rights and open carry laws.
The shooter was stopped two minutes into his rampage by 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken. The suspect brought three guns with him to the mall and more than 100 rounds of ammo, killing three people and injuring two.
People are calling Dicken a hero, but the fact he had his gun at all has incited questions.
Michigan experts spoke to 13 ON YOUR SIDE about what gun laws look like here in our state.
"A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hand," said Steve Dulan, who teaches classes in gun law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.
Greenwood Park Mall near Indianapolis, where the fatal shooting happened Sunday, does not allow firearms or illegal weapons per its code of conduct.
Michigan is an open carry state which means that as long as someone's firearm is not hidden, they do not need any special license. There is a rule of pistol licensing, which most people just understand as registration plus age restrictions based on the type of gun.
"You've got to learn a lot of law to be able to carry a concealed pistol in Michigan," Dulan said.
Gun owners are expected to follow code of conducts for specific private properties and places where carrying is not allowed.
"That's a core belief of our system, is that you can make the rules for your private property, and that includes places like malls," Dulan explained, "so, I can make a decision about whether I want to go there, as long as I'm reasonably well informed about what the rules are."
"You don't want people to infringe on your rights to possess firearms, so don't infringe on other people's rights to control their own property," said Tom Lambert, President and Legislative Director of Michigan Open Carry. "There's a good debate that goes back and forth."
Lambert added he believes if every private property had a no-weapon policy, people would have to choose between getting essentials and carrying their gun.
"Ultimately, it's important to recognize that there is that there's good arguments on both sides of the private policy issue," he said. "It's not an easy issue, and you have these competing interests that are both valid and trying to find a good way to balance them."
"Because the legislature creates these rules based on competing arguments," Dulan added, "we land somewhere in the middle with these laws, and they do get fairly complicated."
Here in West Michigan, no weapons are permitted inside Woodland Mall unless carried by a member of law enforcement or a security officer. No weapons or firearms are allowed at Rivertown Mall, either.
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