Local Liberals: “The Second Amendment Is for Everyone”
The weekend after supporters of President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, then-East Lansing City Councilmember Dana Watson purchased her first gun. Watson told East Lansing Info she had earned her Concealed Pistol License the year before.
“There was a line outside the door,” she said of the Mason gun shop. “A lot of people had similar thought processes at the time.”
Watson is one example of a broader national trend of liberals and politically progressive individuals purchasing firearms and obtaining concealed carry permits.
“As a Black woman,” Watson said, “I was watching how people were treated at certain events compared to others, and the differences were very clear. I attended some Black Lives Matter events where people were armed specifically to support and protect Black people. That context absolutely influenced my decision.”
Michael Lynn is the CEO of the Lansing Empowerment Network, a nonprofit community development organization. He also founded The Advocates Firearms Academy, where he teaches CPL and gun safety classes.
Lynn began teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It really came out of a need,” he told ELi. “A lot of people wanted to get licensed but didn’t know where to go that felt safe. I knew I could provide a safe environment, so I went through the process to become an instructor, and we’ve been teaching ever since.”
The goal is to provide a safe space regardless of a person’s worldview, Lynn said. He teaches respect and dignity without delving into politics, though he acknowledged that people can see the organization’s left-leaning orientation on its website, which may influence some to choose his classes.
Lynn said he is not convinced that the narrative of liberals rushing to buy guns is accurate.
“From my perspective as an instructor, there hasn’t been a sudden rush recently,” he said. “People have been learning about firearms consistently since the pandemic. The pandemic forced people to confront their own mortality and the reality that systems might fail.”
While Lynn said he saw an influx of interest in 2020, he is unsure whether there is a direct correlation between gun ownership and the current political climate. He added that people on the left tend to talk less publicly about gun ownership than those on the right.
“That doesn’t mean they don’t own firearms,” he said.
Lynn said he saw a difference between Trump supporters and “actual Second Amendment advocates” after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti at a protest in Minneapolis last month. Trump referenced a gun Pretti legally carried at a protest when asked about his death: “You can’t have guns,” Trump said.
“I think it’s important to separate Trump supporters from actual Second Amendment advocates,” he said. “Those are not the same group. True Second Amendment advocates believe in the right to bear arms regardless of politics, race or party. Even the NRA spoke out in that case.”
Lynn said the incident has not given him pause about carrying a firearm during a protest. If anything, he said, it has made him more inclined to carry.
His work at the Lansing Empowerment Network, Lynn said, focuses on gun violence prevention through education, legal understanding and safe firearm storage.
“One reason I became an instructor was to help 21 year olds in our programs get licensed so they weren’t catching felonies just for carrying a firearm they were legally allowed to own,” he said.
Lynn said prospective gun owners should carefully consider whether they are prepared for the legal, emotional and public consequences of pulling a trigger. He also encouraged people to study the history of the Second Amendment, including what he described as racist laws designed to keep firearms out of the hands of oppressed communities.
Lynn cautioned against panic-buying firearms.
“What’s happening in the world today should not be the reason someone buys a gun,” he said. “Understanding the responsibility and the history behind the Second Amendment — that should be the reason.”
Aria Morey, volunteer coordinator at the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing, told ELi she grew up around firearms, including shooting long rifles and participating in 4-H rifle competitions. She also grew up in a conservative household.
“My whole family is MAGA,” she said. “When my political views changed in adulthood, my views on gun control and regulation changed, too. But I never left behind the idea that the Second Amendment is for everyone.”
Morey said that “given everything going on in the country,” she decided it was time to obtain her CPL in April 2025.
“People are realizing that those who are supposed to protect us often don’t,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of research on concealed carry laws, stand-your-ground laws, and castle doctrine. If the people who are supposed to protect me aren’t protecting me — or are actively harming people — I still want a chance to survive.”
Morey said she has not yet purchased a gun because she does not feel ready.
“I’m still appalled at how easy it was to get a CPL,” she said. “That’s part of why I don’t yet own a firearm. I don’t personally feel ready to conceal carry, and I don’t think an eight-hour CPL course makes most people ready.”
Watson took her CPL class in DeWitt alongside a large group of Black women who are also friends and colleagues. Going with a group helped her feel excited for the class.
“I wasn’t walking into that space alone,” she said. “I was walking in with people who looked like me and thought like me. There was a sense of community, especially among women and matriarchs supporting each other — checking in about registration, renewals and whether people were purchasing firearms.”
Earning her CPL and purchasing a firearm did not change how Watson views guns, she said. She remains strongly opposed to assault-style weapons and supports gun regulations and restrictions, positions she does not see as contradictory.
Watson said owning a gun does not automatically make her feel safer in every situation. Instead, it has prompted her to think more carefully about her surroundings, exits and responsibilities. She also has those conversations with her three children.
“We talk as a family about exit plans, situational awareness and what to do if someone makes a dangerous decision — whether that’s in public spaces or schools,” Watson said. “From a public health perspective, it’s about balancing adult decisions with collective safety — keeping firearms secured, stored properly and having honest conversations about why people make the choices they do.”
Dale Howe, past president of the Chief Okemos Sportsman Club, a gun and archery club based in Dimondale, told ELi the club has approximately 500 members. He has been an active member for about 10 years.
Howe said gun ownership tends to ebb and flow, but he does not believe liberals are disproportionately purchasing firearms.
“If you look at numbers where people say, ‘How many people in Michigan own a gun?’ — that’s almost impossible to answer,” he said. “Shotguns and rifles aren’t consistently registered. Some new purchases are registered, but if I sell you a shotgun privately, there’s no requirement that it be registered anywhere. So they can only reliably track new gun sales.”
Howe, a training counselor for the National Rifle Association, said having a CPL does not necessarily mean someone is ready to own or use a firearm. The CPL course teaches the law, he said, not firearm handling.
“I tell students that if they’re not planning to practice at least once a quarter, they really shouldn’t be carrying, regardless of whether it’s legal,” he said.
“If someone wants to learn about guns, they shouldn’t start with a CPL class,” Howe said. “They should take a firearms class, like an NRA Basic Pistol course, which teaches how to load, shoot and handle a firearm safely.”
Several attempts were made to interview the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, Michigan’s NRA affiliate, for comment on this story. Calls and emails went unanswered.