The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that dismissed a lawsuit against the state Legislature that alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act during committee hearings on several gun reform bills in 2023.

Great Lakes Gun Rights and Michigan Open Carry Inc. filed a lawsuit in April 2023 in an attempt to halt mandatory background checks for the purchase of firearms, as well as other procedures, that were proposed after the February 2023 mass shooting on Michigan State University’s campus that killed three students and critically injured five others.

The lawsuit was filed the same day Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law legislation mandating background checks for all firearm purchases in the state and that all guns be stored safely in homes where minors could access the weapons.

A Michigan Court of Claims judge determined in November of that year that while the state House had violated the open meetings law, by failing to “enact adequate rules regarding the right to address committees,” the injunction requested by the groups was not warranted and dismissed the suit.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, the appellate court upheld the Court of Claims decision, agreeing that the Legislature’s acceptance of both oral and written communications during the overall hearing process satisfied open meetings law requirements.

“The sole issue before us in this case is whether the trial court erred by deciding that ‘the Legislature intended to allow the public’s right to address public bodies under the OMA to be satisfied through oral and written submissions.’ We conclude that it did not,” said the opinion.

As for the OMA violations, which involved a failure by the House Judiciary Committee to have clear rules outlining who gets to testify in-person and for how long, the appeals panel noted the committee later adopted a rule in February 2024 that mirrored that of its Senate counterpart, bringing it into line with the OMA.

After the opinion’s release, both Great Lakes Gun Rights and Michigan Open Carry Inc. denounced the finding, saying it signaled a “chilling erosion of transparency and accountability in Lansing.”

Casey Armitage, president of Michigan Open Carry, Inc., said the ruling was a further attempt to “muzzle” gun owners.

“This isn’t just about meetings — it’s about our right to stand up and say ‘no’ to gun control in person, not just on some ignored scrap of paper. This decision emboldens every anti-gun politician to shut out the people they’re supposed to serve,” said Armitage in a statement posted to social media.

Both groups vowed to explore all avenues, including “legal challenges, legislative pressure, and grassroots mobilization” to reverse the decision, according to the statement.

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