Michigan Firearms Legislative Update

Michigan Firearms Legislative Update

Michigan Coalition For Responsible Gun Owners

Michigan - -(Ammoland.com)- The following Michigan Firearms Bills are not yet law. They must be passed by both House and Senate then signed into law by the Governor.

House Bill 5972 (introduced in House March 2010) – The bill would amend the law that governs the purchase and possession of a pistol[1] by a member of the general public who does not have a concealed pistol license (or is not otherwise exempt). Section 2 of Public Act 372 of 1927, MCL 28.422, currently prohibits anyone from purchasing, carrying, possessing, or transporting a pistol in Michigan without obtaining a license for it beforehand from the local police or sheriff department. This license is sometimes called a “license to purchase” or a “purchase license.” (Form RI-060) The bill would amend Section 2 to:

Eliminate the current requirement that anyone who purchases, carries, possesses, or transports a pistol in Michigan must obtain a license for it beforehand from the local police or sheriff department. (Under the Michigan Penal Code, failure to do so is currently a misdemeanor.)
Eliminate current eligibility criteria in state law for acquiring a pistol, such as the requirement that the person be at least 18 and a lawful resident of Michigan, have correctly answered at least 70 percent of the questions on a basic pistol safety questionnaire, not have been previously adjudged insane or lacking in legal capacity, not be subject to a restraining order for domestic violence or stalking. (The eligibility criteria that the bill would eliminate are described more fully below.)

Eliminate the authority of a police or sheriff department to deny a pistol license to an otherwise qualified applicant if probable cause existed to believe the person posed a risk to himself or herself or to others or would commit a crime with the pistol.

Replace the current pistol licensure system with a registration requirement. (After a person acquired a new pistol, he or she would have to submit a registration form in person or by mail. Failure to mail in or deliver this registration form would be a civil infraction, not a crime.)
Allow anyone to bring a pistol into Michigan for 30 days without registering it.

Allow someone who had a license to carry a pistol from another state and who was in Michigan for no more than 180 days without intending to establish permanent residency, to bring pistols into Michigan, or purchase new ones in Michigan, without registering them.

House Bill 5973 (introduced in House March 2010) – The bill would amend provisions in Public Act 372 of 1927 concerning concealed pistol license renewal and State Police approval of a basic pistol safety questionnaire. It also repeals Section 2a of that act, MCL 28.422a.

Renewal of concealed pistol licenses. Under the bill, a person could apply to renew a concealed pistol license no earlier than six months before the current license expired. If the license renewal was approved by the concealed weapons licensing board, the license would run from the date that the current license expired (or the date that the license renewal was approved, whichever was later) until the applicant’s date of birth that was at least four years but not more than four years later. (This second “four years” is likely intended to be “five years.”)

The bill retains the current requirement that to renew a concealed pistol license an applicant must certify that he or she has spent at least three hours reviewing concealed pistol training and least one hour on a firing range in the preceding six months. A new set of fingerprints is not required unless the person’s fingerprints are not already in the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) database maintained by the State Police.

Basic pistol safety questionnaire. The bill would eliminate a requirement that the State Police approve and distribute a basic pistol safety questionnaire. The use of this questionnaire would be discontinued under House Bill 5972. The State Police would still have to approve and distribute a basic pistol safety pamphlet to local police and sheriff departments, now described as “entities authorized to register pistols” under Section 2.

Eliminate registration of pistols by CPL holders under Section 2a. The bill would also repeal Section 2a of Public Act 372 of 1927, MCL 28.422a. Among other things, that section exempts concealed pistol licensees from the licensure requirements of Section 2, MCL 28.422, describes the record that must be filled out when a concealed pistol licensee obtains a new pistol, and allows the State Police to promulgate rules. Presumably, if this exemption and registration provision were deleted, concealed pistol holders would have to register their newly-acquired pistols under the process described in Section 2 (as it would be amended by House Bill 5972). Unlike the current registration provision for CPL holders in Section 2a, the one created in House Bill 5972 does not require that a concealed pistol licensee’s number be included on the record, does not require that a civil infraction for failing to register a pistol be reported to the concealed weapon licensing board, and does not give the State Police rulemaking authority.

The bill is tie-barred to House Bill 5972, meaning that unless that bill is also enacted, House Bill 5973 will not take effect.

About:
The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. Formed from just eight people in 1996, we now have thousands of members and numerous affiliated clubs across the state. We’