A U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan has a plan to arm homeless people in an effort to reduce violent crime.
Candidate Brian Ellison, a Libertarian, is trying to raise $10,000 to put his plan "Arm the Homeless, plan into action to train and provide weapons to the homeless in metro Detroit, according to MLive.com.
Ellison said the homeless need to be able to protect themselves. "Homeless people are people too, and they have a right to defend themselves," he told MLive.
Ellison said in an interview with the Guardian he thinks the best weapon for a homeless person is a pistol.
"But due to the licensing requirements in the state we're going to have a hard enough time getting homeless people shotguns as it is," he said.
“Getting them pistols is probably next to impossible. The pistols need to be registered, people have to have addresses.”
Ellison also told the Guardian he isn't worried about people walking around town with loaded shotguns and he doesn't think it presents any additional danger. Giving the homeless ammunition along with a gun is part of his plan, too.
“Are you worried about the police being armed with military weapons?” Ellison asked.
“I am,” he said. “The world we live in is a scary world, where the police who used to dress in short-sleeved shirts and carry a revolver now have long rifles with scopes and bulletproof vests and armored vehicles.”
"And quite frankly that scares me much more than a homeless person trying to defend themselves with a shotgun," Ellison told the Guardian.
Ellison is running against popular incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow and three Republican candidates, Sandy Pensler, Bob Carr and John James.
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