PELLSTON, Mich. (AP) — The leader of the Michigan House says he paid a fine of about $2,000 for possessing a loaded handgun at a northern Michigan airport last summer.
House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Emmet County says he got a 50 percent discount last week under a federal policy that gives a break to people if they pay within 30 days.
Chatfield had a gun in a bag that also contained a laptop computer. He says he forgot about the gun when he was at Pellston Regional Airport last July. He says he earlier paid a $250 fine because the gun wasn’t registered.
Chatfield, a Republican, tells The Detroit News it was an “expensive mistake.”
RG
How do you “forget” about a gun? I know where mine are all the time.
Patrick
Loser!!!
chukobuk
The more important question is when is the state legislature going to close the “defect” in state law that allowed Chatfield to avoid criminal consequences, the defect that remains as a magnet for future terrorists who will benefit from when they try to get a gun through Michigan airport checkpoints, pay off a fine, and walk. It’s a simple fix to correct the reference in state law to the correct federal statute. Why hasn’t it been fixed?
https://www.petoskeynews.com/blue/prosecutor-won-t-charge-chatfield-for-taking-gun-to-airport/article_8f2caa1c-9977-11e8-89f9-133ae8683fdd.html
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(h4ig5ifzphkoqzelofchbvju))/mileg.aspx?page=shortlinkdisplay&docname=mcl-259-80f
Mike
Unregistered firearm and he forgot he had it? Me thinks he needs to be taken off any committees that require thought or responsibility as part of their charter.