Michigan Gun Laws

Michigan

Owning a gun in the state of Michigan, much like in any other state, comes with several requirements and application processes to make sure that the owner can ensure the safety of the majority. For that, the first thing that you need to know about owning a gun in MI is that it is a shall-issue state. That means that once you have purchased your permit and you have qualified in all the requisites of owning a gun, you will be able to buy and discreetly carry your firearm with you within the state of Michigan and other states that it has a reciprocal agreement with. 

But you may ask how to purchase a concealed carry license in the state of Michigan and what the laws governing the sale and ownership of a firearm within the state’s jurisdiction. This short and quick guide should be able to answer all the questions you might have regarding gun laws in the state of Michigan. Here’s what you need to know: 

Michigan CCW Handgun

To obtain a concealed carry license for handguns in the state of Michigan, you need to satisfy the following criteria: 

  • A license applicant has to be at least 21 years during the application.
  • A license applicant must have completed the approved firearms training class.
  • A license applicant holds a valid state-issued driver’s license or personal identification card.
  • A license applicant must be a resident of Michigan six months before the application. 
  • A license applicant must not be convicted of a violent crime that is a felony. 
  • A license applicant must be a U.S. citizen or an alien that was legally admitted into the United States.
  • A license applicant must not be subject to an order or disposition for any of the following: 
    • Involuntary hospitalization or involuntary alternative treatment.
    • Legal incapacitation
    • Personal protection order
    • Bond or conditional release prohibiting purchase or possession of a firearm
    • Finding of not guilty because of insanity
  • A license applicant must not be prohibited from possessing, using, transporting, selling, purchasing, carrying, shipping, receiving, or distributing a firearm for whatever reason prescribed by the Michigan law. 
  • A license applicant must not have a court order of legal incapacity within the state or elsewhere.
  • A license applicant cannot be someone who was not found guilty but mentally ill of any crime and has not offered a plea of not guilty of or been acquitted of any crime because of insanity.
  • A license applicant must not be convicted of any misdemeanor violation three years before the application of a license. Please see the full on the Michigan state website. 
  • A license applicant must not be and has never been subject to an order of involuntary commitment in an inpatient or outpatient setting due to mental illness.
  • A license applicant must not be diagnosed with mental illness. 

Please note that on top of these requirements, Federal gun law requirements are also followed. Please read here for more information. 

Here’s the complete process of applying for a Concealed CarryHandgun license/permit in the state of Michigan: 

STEP 1:

Complete a firearm training course if required.

STEP 2:

Download the application or pick up from the county clerk's office.

STEP 3:

Go to the county clerk's office of the county in which you reside and sign the application under oath. Include the following documents:

  • Training certificate, and
  • A passport-quality photograph.

Pay the fee. The county clerk will provide a receipt for payment of fees.

STEP 4:

Have classifiable fingerprints taken by the county clerk, state police, sheriff’s office, local police agency or other entity that provides fingerprinting services. Provide the Pistol application receipt to the provider.

STEP 5:

The county clerk shall issue a license or notice of statutory disqualification within 45 days after the date the applicant has classifiable fingerprints taken.

Much like the application for a permit, renewing your Michigan Concealed Carry Permit also has a process to follow. Submit your renewal application within the following time frame:

  • Not more than six months before the expiration of current CPL
  • Not one year after the expiration of the current CPL.

Three to six months before the expiration of your license, you should be notified by the county clerk of its upcoming expiration. It’s best that you renew it by that time. You can renew your license with the following ways: 

  • In-person at the county clerk’s office
  • Via U.S. Mail at MSP CPL Unit, P.O. Box 30634, Lansing, Michigan 48909
  • Online 

Please note that those eligible to submit their CPL renewal application online will receive a renewal notice through the U.S. mail from the county clerk that issued their CPL containing a PIN. CPL holders who receive renewal notices not containing a PIN are not eligible to renew online.

Please follow these steps to renew your license:

STEP 1:

Download the CPL renewal application (or proceed to the online renewal page if you are eligible to renew online). 

STEP 2:

Submit all the necessary documents and a completed CPL renewal application to the address provided above. Once done, pay the renewal fees.

STEP 3:

Sign the statement on the application certifying that you have completed at least three hours of review of the required training and has had at least one hour of firing range time in the six months immediately preceding the renewal application.

STEP 4:

The issuing authority shall issue a license or notice of statutory disqualification.

Please note that if you have applied for renewal of your license six months prior to its expiration, the expiration date of the current license is extended until the renewal license or notice of statutory disqualification is issued. Keep the receipt issued by the county clerk to be allowed to concealed carry your pistol after the expiration of the license you are renewing. 

The following are the fees for applying for a license in Michigan: 

Application (five yrs. validity)

$100.00 

renewal (five yrs. validity)

$150.00

Processing time

45 days

Michigan Concealed Carry Laws

Must Notify Officer

YES - MUST NOTIFY OFFICER

Every gun holder has the duty to disclose and notify an officer of the law whenever they are carrying a concealed handgun upon contact for official business. 

Law:  Mich. Comp. Laws § 28.425f(3)

Magazine limits for Handguns?

NO

Michigan has not set a limit for the number of magazine owned by an individual nor does it restrict the magazine capacity in handguns. 

Ammunition Restrictions

YES

You cannot possess nor use armor-piercing ammunition

“No Weapons Allowed” signs enforced?

NO

But property owners can ask you to leave. Refusal to leave will be charged as a trespassing violation. 

Michigan Gun Forms & Supporting Documentation

Purchase and Possession

PURCHASE

A permit is not required to purchase a rifle or shotgun in the state of Mississippi. It is unlawful to sell a rifle, shotgun, or handgun to any individual under the age of 18, or a convicted felon, or any person under indictment.

A buyer of firearms must obtain a license to do so from the chief of police if the buyer lives in a city, or from the county sheriff if he/she resides in a location where there is no organized police department. The buyer of firearms must receive a score of 70% on a review questionnaire on pistol safety, be a U.S. citizen, a resident of Michigan, be 18 years of age with no felony conviction, and may not be declared insane by any court of law, (unless restored later by a court order).

A purchasing license must be filled out in triplicate and shall include the buyer’s and seller’s signature, as well as the handgun description that is sold. The purchaser of the handgun shall retain two copies of the license, and the seller will retain one. The buyer shall return the unloaded handgun, encased or trigger locked, along with the license, to the local law enforcement agency (acting as the licensing authority) within 10 days of taking delivery of the handgun.

A copy of the license shall be forwarded to the Commissioner of the State Police; the other will be retained by local authority for a period of six years. The license shall become void if not used within a period of 10 days from issue.  A (NICS) criminal background check and registration requirements apply for valid Michigan CCW holders, however a license to purchase is not necessary.

POSSESSION

A permit is not required to possess a rifle or shotgun. Upon obtaining, all handguns must be presented to the city chief of police or county sheriff in the area where the owner resides.

It is illegal to possess a firearm in the following places: any school, court, daycare, financial institution, church, hospital, theater, sports arena, or restaurant that has a license to sell liquor or alcohol.

Carrying a Firearm

It is illegal to carry a concealed handgun on or about the person, or concealed or openly if in a vehicle, without first obtaining a license to carry a pistol concealed.

A license is not required in the state of Michigan:

  • To transport any unloaded pistol in the trunk of a vehicle in a container, or in a container not easily accessible to occupants in the vehicle, as long as the transport of the firearm is for legal purposes.
  • To carry on one’s own property, or in his/her residence or place of business.
  • While carrying any antique firearm, in a container in the trunk of the vehicle, while unloaded.
  • To carry a pistol, concealed, if licensed to do so in his/her resident state, while in compliance with any restrictions that appear on the license.
  • To carry a pistol concealed if an individual is a law enforcement officer.

A rifle or shotgun must be unloaded and either broken down, enclosed in a case, carried in the trunk of a vehicle, or inaccessible from the passenger compartment in order to be lawfully transported in a motor vehicle.

A concealed pistol license to carry shall be made in the presence of the county clerk of the applicant’s residence, while under oath. The applicant must include two sets of fingerprints taken by the county sheriff, and a photograph of passport quality with the application. The application fee for the license is $105.00 and the sheriff may charge $15.00 for the fingerprinting.  The County Concealed Weapon Licensing Board will issue the license within 45 days of receiving the fingerprint analysis, as long as the applicant is not prohibited from receiving the license for any reason. The license shall be valid for a period not greater than five years and needs to be renewed on the applicant’s birthday between the fourth and fifth year of issuance.

Any individual who possesses a license to carry in another state may carry in a concealed firearm, under the same conditions in Michigan, as long as he/she has not become a resident of Michigan. No licensed individual may carry while under the influence of alcohol. This also prohibits carrying a firearm after having consumed ANY alcoholic beverage, (no matter how small the amount).

It is illegal to carry a concealed pistol into any of the following: a school, court of law, university, classroom, dormitory room of a college, hospital, place of worship, sports arena, entertainment facility with a seating capacity of over 2,500, casino, day care center, or a restaurant or bar licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. An individual may carry however, while dropping off or picking up a student, if he/she is the parent or legal guardian of that student. It is also permitted to carry in a place of worship, with previous permission from officials that preside over the facility or institution.

A person may be excluded from obtaining a concealed pistol license for a number of reasons which can be found at the Michigan State Police website:  http://www.michigan.gov/msp/

Antiques & Replicas

Any replica or antique handgun kept for display or as a relic or curiosity that does not use modern ammunition, or is permanently disabled, is exempt from regulations pertaining to the sale or registration of firearms.

An antique firearm shall refer to:

  • Any firearm manufactured before or in 1898 that is not designed/redesigned for use with rimfire or center fire ignition fixed ammunition, which includes, a flintlock, matchlock, percussion cap, or like ignition mechanism, or replica of such (manufactured before or after 1898).
  • Any firearm that uses fixed ammunition made in or before 1898 that uses ammunition no longer made in the United States and not available through normal commercial channels of trade.

Machine Guns

Michigan prohibits the manufacture, sale, offer for sale, or possession of a machine gun or any other firearm that “shoots or is designed to shoot automatically more than 1 shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger" except those that are federally licensed to manufacture, sale, offer for sale, or possess a machine gun. 

Range Protection

While the expansion of a shooting range may be subject to noise regulation, no municipal government has the right to limit the regular occurring noise of that range.

§ 3011. Regulation of sport shooting ranges

1. Definition. As used in this section, “sport shooting range” means an area designed and used for archery, skeet and trap shooting or other similar shooting sports and the shooting of rifles, shotguns and pistols.

2. Limitation. A municipal noise control ordinance may not require or be applied so as to require a sport shooting range to limit or eliminate shooting activities that have occurred on a regular basis at the range prior to the enactment date of the ordinance.

3. Expansion of activity. Nothing in this section limits the ability of a municipality to regulate noise produced by the expansion of activity at a sport shooting range

Michigan Concealed Carry Reciprocity

Michigan's Reciprocity States

States honoring a Michigan Permit

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Permit

Residential Permits Only
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

 

Districts & Territories
District of Columbia, New York City, Puerto Rico,

 

States not honoring a Michigan Permit

California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island.

  • Schools or school property (can carry when inside a vehicle)
  • Public/private day care center or any establishment meant for child care
  • Courts
  • Sports arena/stadium
  • Tavern or any establishment selling liquor consumed within the property
  • Religious buildings and properties
  • Any establishment with a seating capacity more than 2,500
  • Hospitals
  • Dormitory or classrooms of a community college, college, or university
  • Casinos
  • Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Wayne State University
  • Other places prohibited by the Federal Law

State parks

State and national forests

Road side rest areas

Vehicle

All areas of the state not listed as Off-Limits

Miscellaneous

There shall be a two-year mandatory prison sentence for a felony committed while carrying or in possession of a firearm. This sentence does not allow for parole or probation during the mandatory term, and it shall be served consecutively with the sentence set forth for the felony conviction.

It is illegal to knowingly alter, remove, or obliterate the serial number, other identifying mark, or maker’s name of any firearm.

It is illegal to point a firearm at another individual intentionally, even if it is done without mal intent.

It is illegal to set any device that operates by the firing of gunpowder, or another explosive, or any spring gun.

It is illegal to use, or be in possession of any firearm while under the influence of alcohol or any mood/mind altering drug.

It is illegal to carry or handle any firearm in a reckless or careless manner without regard for the rights and safety of others, or property.

A pellet handgun in the state of Michigan must be registered according to the provisions set forth for handguns and requires a license to purchase. Pellet guns in general are considered firearms in Michigan and are regulated by the provisions above. A pellet handgun shall be registered and requires a license for purchase. Further, it shall require a license to carry concealed or in any vehicle. A serial number must be stamped onto the firearm by the State Police, if one does not already exist. A BB gun may not be possessed or used by any individual under the age of 18 outside of his/her residential yard, unless accompanied by a person over the age of 18.

No local government shall impose certain restrictions on any firearms or ammunition.

If a firearm is stolen, the owner must report the theft within five days of discovering it.

Frequently Asked Questions

A license application can take as much as 45 days after the application has been submitted.

There is no limit in the number of guns you can carry as long as you have a valid license.

If you have a BAC reading of 0.02 alcohol content in your blood, you are not allowed to carry a gun, even if you have a license.

The county clerks are the ones issuing CPL licenses for residents of the said county. 

No.

Yes, the Michigan state uses the castle doctrine law with no duty to retreat if you are in your own home.

Please refer to this site to find a state-approved instructor near you

Yes. But not long guns. 

Michigan Off Limits statues

(1) Subject to subsection (5), an individual licensed under this act to carry a concealed pistol, or who is exempt from licensure under section 12a(h), shall not carry a concealed pistol on the premises of any of the following:
 (a) A school or school property except that a parent or legal guardian of a student of the school is not precluded from carrying a concealed pistol while in a vehicle on school property, if he or she is dropping the student off at the school or picking up the student from the school. As used in this section, "school" and "school property" mean those terms as defined in section 237a of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.237a.
 (b) A public or private child care center or day care center, public or private child caring institution, or public or private child placing agency.
 (c) A sports arena or stadium.
 (d) A bar or tavern licensed under the Michigan liquor control code of 1998, 1998 PA 58, MCL 436.1101 to 436.2303, where the primary source of income of the business is the sale of alcoholic liquor by the glass and consumed on the premises. This subdivision does not apply to an owner or employee of the business. The Michigan liquor control commission shall develop and make available to holders of licenses under the Michigan liquor control code of 1998, 1998 PA 58, MCL 436.1101 to 436.2303, an appropriate sign stating that "This establishment prohibits patrons from carrying concealed weapons". The owner or operator of an establishment licensed under the Michigan liquor control code of 1998, 1998 PA 58, MCL 436.1101 to 436.2303, may post the sign developed under this subdivision. (e) Any property or facility owned or operated by a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other place of worship, unless the presiding official or officials of the church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other place of worship permit the carrying of concealed pistol on that property or facility.
 (f) An entertainment facility with a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals that the individual knows or should know has a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals or that has a sign above each public entrance stating in letters not less than 1-inch high a seating capacity of 2,500 or more individuals.
 (g) A hospital.
 (h) A dormitory or classroom of a community college, college, or university.
(2) Subject to subsection (5), an individual shall not carry a portable device that uses electro-muscular disruption technology on any of the premises described in subsection (1).
(3) An individual licensed under this act to carry a concealed pistol, or who is exempt from licensure under section 12a(h), shall not carry a concealed pistol in violation of R 432.1212 of the Michigan Administrative Code promulgated under the Michigan gaming control and revenue act, 1996 IL 1, MCL 432.201 to 432.226.
(4) As used in subsection (1), "premises" does not include parking areas of the places identified under subsection (1). History: Add. 2000, Act 381, Eff. July 1, 2001 ;

Am. 2017, Act 95, Eff. Oct. 11, 2017

(1) An individual may not carry a firearm or other weapon in a casino, except for the following entities:
 (a) State, county, city, township, or village law enforcement officers, as defined in section 2(e) of Act No. 203 of the Public Acts of 1965, as amended, being § 28.601 et seq. of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
 (b) Federal law enforcement officers, as defined in 5 U.S.C. § 8331.
 (c) Armored car personnel picking up or delivering currency at secured areas.
(2) Law enforcement officers conducting official duties within a casino shall, to the extent practicable, advise the Michigan state police gaming section of their presence.
(3) Private casino security personnel may carry handcuffs while on duty in a casino. History: 1998-2000 AACS.

Administrative Order 2001-1 of the Michigan Supreme Court: "Weapons are not permitted in any courtroom, office, or other space used for official court business or by judicial employees unless the chief judge or other person designated by the chief judge has given prior approval consistent with the court’s written policy."

(3) This section does not prohibit an individual certified under this act to carry a concealed firearm who has any bodily alcohol content from transporting that firearm in the locked trunk of his or her motor vehicle or another motor vehicle in which he or she is a passenger or, if the vehicle does not have a trunk, from transporting that firearm unloaded in a locked compartment or container that is separated from the ammunition for that firearm or on a vessel if the firearm is transported unloaded in a locked compartment or container that is separated from the ammunition for that firearm. 2008,

Act 537, Eff. Mar. 31, 2009

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