"Promoting safe use and ownership of firearms through
education, litigation, and legislation"
MCRGO MONDAY E'NEWS
Understanding Veto Overrides
Constitutional carry passed its first hurdle of the 2019-2020 session last week after being approved by a House Committee on a vote of 5-1. With Republicans in control of both chambers of the Michigan Legislature and Governor Whitmer being a Democrat, we often see mention of veto overrides by our members. It's extremely unlikely to happen for three reasons.
First, the numbers aren't there. It takes a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a governor's veto. That's 74 votes in the House and 26 in the Senate. There are currently 58 Republicans in the House and 22 Republicans in the Senate. Of the 68 current Democratic legislators, only one is reliably pro-Second Amendment.
Second, veto overrides in Michigan are extremely rare and only happen on issues where there isn't a strong partisan split. The most recent veto override happened in 2017 when the Republican-led Michigan Legislature voted to override Gov. Rick Snyder's veto of a speedier tax cut for those who trade in their vehicle for a new one. Democrats were more than happy to oblige. Prior to that, there have only been three veto overrides in Michigan since the end of WWII, one each in 2002, 1977, and 1951.
Third, Michigan is a swing state where partisan politics is very much in play. So a legislator who may vote for a bill only to have it later vetoed by the governor of the same party would be less likely to vote to override the veto out of partisan loyalty. The last time Michigan has had veto proof majorities in both chambers was in 1948 (Republicans with a Republican governor) and 1942 (Republicans with a Democratic governor).
Despite an expected veto of constitutional carry legislation, we must continue to press forward with the proposal to keep it alive for discussion in future legislative sessions. It took a decade of attempts for shall-issue to become law. One day, Michigan will join the growing number of states with constitutional carry.
