A Novi ammunition store appears to have violated state law when it sold bags of bullets advocating for the recall of a Democratic state representative from downriver, according to the Michigan Department of State.
In a social media post last month, Fenix Ammunition posted a picture of the bag of .223 ammunition, which included the words, “Recall MI State Rep Jaime Churches (27th District).”
“Jamie’s a ‘Downriver girl’, if you know what I mean,” the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, read. “She represents the 27th district and she never met a Constitutional infringement she didn’t like. Put her back at the Starbucks drive-thru, where she belongs.”
The Michigan Campaign Finance Act requires campaign-related material to include the name and address of the person or committee who paid for promotion.
“Upon review, the evidence submitted supports the conclusion that a potential violation has occurred,” the Bureau of Elections wrote in a letter to Fenix Ammunition on Aug. 14. “Because the materials explicitly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate, or for the passage or defeat of a ballot proposal, the materials contain express advocacy as defined by the Act.”
Knowingly violating the Michigan Campaign Finance Act carries a maximum penalty of 93 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Churches, a former elementary school teacher, has supported gun-control bills following the mass shootings at Oxford High School in November 2021 and Michigan State University in February.
Fenix Ammunition responded with defiance. In an email to customers last week, the business claimed, “We’re Being Censored!”
Fenix Ammunition also posted a photo of a handwritten sign on X the read, “Fuck the Michigan Bureau of Elections – Paid for by Deez Nuts, Inc.”
In an emailed response to questions from Metro Times, Fenix Ammunition insisted it did nothing wrong and said the recall message was just “our own opinions.”
“Nobody paid for them, other than our individual, loyal, and sometimes fanatical customers by way of purchasing our ammunition,” the email, signed “Silence DoGood,” read. “They have no input on what gets printed on the bag, or even which bags they receive.”
The business also said it is not connected to any groups advocating for Churches’s recall.
“We are not affiliated with any political organization having anything to do with any recall efforts, nor have we received any money, direction, or input from any third party to print what we print on our products,” the email read. “Recalling shitty politicians is something every private citizen should be advocating for, through every avenue possible.”
Churches responded to the bag of bullets on X and pointed out that Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years.
“A GOP supporter sponsored my recall on a bag of bullets,” Churches wrote. “Me, A.K.A. a Starbucks-drinking elementary school teacher, is one of the reasons Democrats earned a majority. Meanwhile, we are focused on the 53M+ we’re bringing Downriver to start vital projects.”
Fenix Ammunition does not shy away from controversy. In November, the business sold bullet casings engraved with the phrase, “Let’s Go Brandon,” a coded insult that means “Fuck Joe Biden.”
During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fenix Ammunition said it was banning customers who wear masks and then wrote on social media that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is a “bitch.”
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