Category: News

New Michigan Firearm Regulations Go Into Effect on 2/13/2024

Urgent Michigan Firearm Industry Alert: New Requirements Going Into Effect As a result of strict gun control legislation passed and enacted in Michigan in 2023, the new year means new requirements will go into effect on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, for Michigan firearm industry businesses, including retailers and manufacturers.


Please review the following critical information below. This information compiled by the National Shooting Sports Foundation is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.

  Public Acts 14, 15, 16, 17 of 2023 2023 PA 17 (S.B. 79), amends MCL 28.429 (1927 PA 372), the handgun licensure act, imposes requirements on an individual who stores or leaves a firearm unattended on premises under the individual’s control, or who enters onto the premises of another individual and stores or leaves a firearm unattended on those premises, and who knows or reasonably should know that a minor (individual less than 18 years of age) is, or is likely to be, present on those premises. The amendments to the Act requires an individual to one or more of the following: Store the firearm in a locked box or container; Keep the firearm unloaded and lock the firearm with a locking device that is properly engaged to render the firearm inoperable by anyone other than the owner or authorized user. Alternatively, the owner of a firearm can keep the firearm in a locked container in the owner’s vehicle, or keep the firearm unloaded in the vehicle, lock the firearm with a locking device, and lock the vehicle. An individual who fails to comply with these requirements is guilty of a felony if a minor obtains the firearm, discharges it, and inflicts death or serious impairment of a body function upon themselves or another individual.    
The Act also amends MCL 28.435 and imposes the following requirements on a federal firearms licensee (FFL): The sale of a firearm must include a commercially available trigger lock or other device designed to disable the firearm and prevent the discharge of the firearm; OR The sale of the firearm must include a commercially available gun case or storage container that can be secured to prevent unauthorized use of the firearm. These requirements can be waived if the purchaser presents a locking device or storage container to the FFL dealer at the time of sale together with a copy of the purchase receipts for the dealer to keep. Upon sale of the firearm the FFL dealer is required to sign a statement and require the purchaser to sign a statement that the requirements described above have been met.
An FFL dealer is prohibited from selling a firearm in Michigan unless the sale is accompanied by a free brochure or pamphlet that includes safety information on the use and storage of the firearm in a home environment. The bill additionally requires the sale to include the lethal means counseling literature published by DHHS and a written warning informing the purchaser of the penalties for failing to store or leave a firearm as required by the bill. In addition, the act requires a FFL dealer to post a notice regarding firearms storage in a conspicuous manner at the entrances, exits, and all points of sale on the premises where firearms are sold.

  2023 PA 81 and 82 amend the Use Tax Act and the General Sales Tax Act (MCL 205.54ll and MCL 205.94ll) to exempt firearm safety devices from the sales and use taxes beginning 90 days after the applicable bill’s effective date and through December 31, 2024. Firearm safety devices means equipment that is designed to prevent unauthorized access to, or operation or discharge of, a firearm and is either of the following: A device that, when installed on a firearm, is designed to prevent the firearm from being operated without first deactivating the device. A gun safe, gun case, lockbox, or other device that is designed, in light of materials used, to prevent access to a firearm by any means other than a key, a combination, biometric data, or other similar means. However, the term does not include a glass-faced cabinet or other form of storage that is primarily designed to allow for the display of firearms. The bills require a seller to provide to the purchaser, upon the retail sale or transfer of a firearm, a notice that says: “The state of Michigan has exempted the sale of firearm safety devices from the sales and use tax imposed by this state through December 31, 2024.” The notice also must be posted in a conspicuous manner at all points of sale on the premises where firearms are sold.
2023 PA 18 (HB 4142) 2023 PA 18 amends various provisions of the Michigan Penal Code that prescribe criminal penalties for violations of section 2 of the handgun licensure act. The bill changes references from “pistols” to “firearms” in provisions that describe violations of the House Fiscal Agency HBs 4138, 4142, and 4143 as enrolled Page 5 of 6 handgun licensure act. The bill would not change the penalties themselves. (Note that pistol and firearm have the same definitions as in HB 4138.) A person who knowingly sells a pistol without complying with section 2 of the handgun licensure act is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days or a fine of up to $100, or both.
2023 PA 19 (HB 4138) 2023 PA 19 amends various statutes regulating the sale of firearms. The Act amends MCL 28.422 to require an individual to obtain a license to purchase a pistol in most situations prior to the actual purchase. The Act is written in broad terms to include firearms generally, but as will be discussed, in most situations the purchase of firearms other than pistols do not generally require a license to be obtained prior to purchase.
The Act amends MCL 28.422a to state that no separate license is required to purchase a firearm (including a pistol) by an individual who holds a valid CPL (unless the individual was issued on an emergency CPL under section 5a(4) or has a receipt serving as a CPL under section 5b(9) or 5l(3); in that case a separate license is required); the individual is an FLF dealer; or the individual is a police officer. Upon purchase, the seller is required to report the sale to MSP with the purchaser’s CPL license number; the FLF number; or the MCOLES number. All other pistol sales require the separate license. The Act adds MCL 28.422a(1)(d), which states the sale of firearms other than a pistol does not require a separate license if the purchaser has a federal national instant criminal background check performed by an FFL dealer not more than 5 days before the purchase. The seller must report the details of the sale to MSP as required by the statute.

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BATFE ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF CLOUD BASED EFORMS

The BATE announced that they are (finally) launching their new cloud-based eForms platform this month (December 2021).

As stated by the BATFE:

“The goal of this ‘modernized eForms’ is to provide ATF with an infusion of technology to provide better services to our industry members, trade associations, and the public. This much needed modernization will reduce the effort and time required to review and process applications. Specifically, ATF Forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6A, 9, 10 and 5300.11, by incorporating online validations and other enhancements.”

Finally, the electronic Form 4 is back!

Based on our understanding of the new process, unlike a paper Form4, with an eForm4, multiple BATFE and FBI agents will be able to work on the eForm4 concurrently instead of only one at a time.

Typically a paper from 4 is touched around 40 different times during the approval process and it has to wait until the previous agent is done with a step until the next step can begin. This should speed the process.

Hopefully this will impact wait times in a positive manner.

More to come as we learn more.

Update:

The ATF has supplied this information to us:

eForms upgrade start: Friday, December 17 at 9 p.m.
eForms tentative upgrade finish: Tuesday, December 21 at 6 a.m.

The web address of eForms is not changing.

Your eForms User ID is not changing. All your previous submissions will transfer to the new system.

After the upgrade, you’ll need to manually reset your password before you can log in for the first time.

Once you log in with your new password, the system will ask you to update your user profile information and create a security PIN.

Another Update:

This is a notice to current eForms users about a change in the outage period for the upgrade to ATF eForms.
The tentative finish date is now Thursday, December 23 at 6 a.m. ET.
No action is needed at this time. However, there are some required steps you’ll need to complete after the upgrade is finished (details below).

Update: Outage period
In order to facilitate this upgrade, eForms is offline during the following time frame:
Upgrade Start: Friday, December 17 at 9 p.m.
Tentative Finish: Thursday, December 23 at 6 a.m.
If the outage window will impact business operations, paper submissions of forms will always still be an option during this period.

Covid-19 Firearms, Ammo and Accessories Update

Update:

We’ve been under this new normal for around 7 months.

Due to the Covid-19 Virus ‘pandemic’ our industry continues to experience overwhelming demand. In fact, as of July 2020, there were 5 million first time firearm buyers this year and a record 12.1 million total FBI background checks.

Most firearms, many types of ammo and various accessories have sold out or are in very limited quantities.

Many of the manufacturers have production backorders that need to be filled just to catch up from pre-covid levels. And each day that goes by with this unprecedented demand, puts them further behind.

Also, many firearm, ammo and accessory manufacturers are unable to finish their products due to supply chain material shortages, labor shortages and state and local Covid restrictions.

We get calls and emails all day long with people searching for 9mm,.380, 45, 5.56, .223 and .22lr ammo. As well as people searching for 9mm handguns, shotguns , AR-15s and most hunting rifles. And, sadly, the answer to that request is often no we don’t have it.

Hopefully, next year, this situation will improve. And, more importantly, I hope we find a way to put a stop to Covid.

Remington Firearms, as it was, is no more. A sad day.

Pending bankruptcy court approval, Remington Firearms has been sold, in parts, to several buyers via an auction.

These are the successful bidders for Remington’s various businesses:

– Vista Outdoor Inc. was the successful bidder for their Lonoke ammunitions business.
– Sierra Bullets LLC was the successful bidder for their Barnes ammunition business.
– Sturm, Ruger & Co. was the successful bidder for their Marlin firearms business.
– JJE Capital Holdings LLC was the successful bidder for their DPMS, H&R, Stormlake, AAC and Parker brands. (Think Palmetto State Armory).
– Franklin Armory Holdings Inc. was the successful bidder for their Bushmaster brand and certain related assets.
– Sportsman’s Warehouse Inc. was the successful bidder for their Tapco brand.
– Roundhill Group LLC was the successful bidder for their non-Marlin Firearms portion of the business.

It will be interesting to see how it all turn out.

Ruger had this message on their homepage:

“The value of Marlin and its 150-year legacy was too great of an opportunity for us to pass up,” said Ruger President and CEO Chris Killoy. “The brand aligns perfectly with ours and the Marlin product portfolio will help us widen our already diverse product offerings.”

The transaction is exclusively for the Marlin Firearms assets. Remington firearms, ammunition, other Remington Outdoor brands, and all facilities and real estate are excluded from the Ruger purchase. Once the purchase is completed, the Company will begin the process of relocating the Marlin Firearms assets to existing Ruger manufacturing facilities.

“The important thing for consumers, retailers and distributors to know at this point in time,” continued Killoy, “is that the Marlin brand and its great products will live on. Long Live the Lever Gun.”