Constitutional Carry in Michigan

Current Status

Michigan does NOT have constitutional carry (permitless carry). To carry a concealed pistol in public, an adult must complete an approved pistol training course and obtain a state-issued Concealed Pistol License (CPL) under Michigan's Firearms Act, MCL 28.421 through MCL 28.435 (1927 PA 372, as amended). Carrying a concealed pistol without a license, and without qualifying for a statutory exception, is prohibited by MCL 750.227(2) and is a felony punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,500.00 under MCL 750.227(3).

Because Michigan is a permit-required (shall-issue) state, several carrying duties apply to CPL holders that would not exist in a true permitless-carry state. Those duties are summarized below, with the controlling statute for each. The duty-to-inform description in particular is stated to match the statute, not a news paraphrase.

What "Constitutional Carry" Would Change

In states with constitutional carry, a person who can lawfully possess a firearm may carry it concealed without first obtaining a permit. Michigan has not adopted that approach. The practical effect is that, in Michigan:

• A CPL is required to carry a concealed pistol in public (MCL 28.425a, MCL 28.425b, and the carrying exception in MCL 750.231a).
• An applicant must complete a pistol training course before a regular CPL is issued (MCL 28.425b, MCL 28.425j).
• CPL holders remain subject to statutory duties (disclosure to a peace officer when stopped, prohibited-place restrictions, and a bar on carrying while impaired) that a permitless-carry framework would not impose as license conditions.

Carrying Duties That Apply Because Michigan Is Permit-Required

Duty to Disclose to a Peace Officer (MCL 28.425f)

Michigan's "duty to inform" is set out in MCL 28.425f(3). The duty is triggered when a CPL holder who is carrying a concealed pistol (or a portable device that uses electro-muscular disruption technology) is stopped by a peace officer. On being stopped, the holder must immediately disclose to the officer that he or she is carrying a concealed pistol or such a device, whether on the person or in the vehicle. The statute is tied to being stopped by a peace officer; it does not impose a proactive duty during any and all contact with law enforcement.

A violation of the disclosure duty is a civil infraction, not a misdemeanor, for both first and subsequent offenses (MCL 28.425f(5)):

• First offense: civil infraction, a fine of $500.00, and the holder's CPL suspended for 6 months (MCL 28.425f(5)(a)).
• Subsequent offense within 3 years of a prior offense: civil infraction, a fine of $1,000.00, and the holder's CPL revoked (MCL 28.425f(5)(b)).

Separately, MCL 28.425f(1) and (2) require the holder to have the CPL and a state-issued driver license or personal identification card in possession while carrying, and to show both to a peace officer on request. A violation of MCL 28.425f(1) or (2) is a civil infraction with a $100.00 fine (MCL 28.425f(4)).

No Carrying While Under the Influence (MCL 28.425k)

A CPL holder may not carry a concealed pistol while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, or while having a prohibited bodily alcohol content (MCL 28.425k(2)). The statute sets three distinct tiers, which should not be collapsed into one:

• MCL 28.425k(2)(a): under the influence of alcoholic liquor or a controlled substance (or a combination of the two), or a bodily alcohol content of .10 or more. This is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days imprisonment or a $100.00 fine, or both, and the court orders the county clerk to revoke the CPL.
• MCL 28.425k(2)(b): bodily alcohol content of .08 or more but less than .10. This is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days or a $100.00 fine, or both, and the court orders the CPL suspended for 3 years.
• MCL 28.425k(2)(c): bodily alcohol content of .02 or more but less than .08. This is a civil infraction with a $100.00 fine, and the CPL is suspended for 1 year.

Acceptance of a CPL constitutes implied consent to a chemical analysis under this section (MCL 28.425k(1)).

Prohibited Places, Including Voting Locations

Michigan's "pistol-free area" and "weapon-free" rules include a general firearm-possession prohibition at certain election locations under MCL 750.234d. Under MCL 750.234d(3):

• MCL 750.234d(3)(a): while the polls are open on an election day, a person may not possess a firearm in a polling place or within 100 feet of any entrance to a building in which a polling place is located.
• MCL 750.234d(3)(b): on any day early voting is conducted, a person may not possess a firearm at an early-voting site or within 100 feet of any entrance to a building in which an early-voting site is located.

Subsection (3) does not apply to CPL holders. Under MCL 750.234d(4)(c), subsection (3) "does not apply to...A person carrying a concealed pistol if that person is licensed by this state or another state to carry a concealed pistol." Subsection (4) also exempts a peace officer (MCL 750.234d(4)(a)) and a person possessing a firearm in his or her own residence or on his or her private property (MCL 750.234d(4)(b)). A CPL holder may therefore lawfully carry a concealed pistol at a polling place or early-voting site, notwithstanding the general prohibition in subsection (3).

(MCL 750.234d also addresses absent-voter ballot drop boxes and clerk offices in subsequent subdivisions, and subsection (5) exempts a person lawfully transporting or possessing a firearm in a vehicle.)

Non-Resident Carry Without a Michigan License

Michigan does not recognize out-of-state permits through general reciprocity in the way a permitless-carry analysis might suggest. A qualifying non-resident may carry without a Michigan license only under specific statutory conditions:

• MCL 28.422(9) exempts a non-resident from the Michigan purchase-license requirement only if all of its listed conditions are met. Among them, the individual must be licensed in the individual's state of residence to purchase, carry, or transport a pistol and have that license in possession (MCL 28.422(9)(a)-(b)); must be the owner of the pistol being carried or transported (MCL 28.422(9)(c)); must possess the pistol for a lawful purpose (MCL 28.422(9)(d)); and must be in Michigan for 180 days or less with no intent to establish residency (MCL 28.422(9)(e)). A non-resident must present the home-state license on demand of a police officer (MCL 28.422(10)).
• MCL 750.231a(1)(a) is the exception to the concealed-pistol prohibition in MCL 750.227(2) for a person holding a valid concealed-pistol license issued by his or her state of residence, except where the pistol is carried in nonconformance with a restriction on that license.

These provisions, not a blanket reciprocity rule, define when an out-of-state carrier may concealed-carry in Michigan without a Michigan CPL.

Emergency CPL (MCL 28.425a)

Michigan provides a limited emergency CPL through the county clerk under MCL 28.425a(4), for example for an individual who has obtained a personal protection order or whose safety a county sheriff finds is endangered by the inability to immediately obtain a CPL. This emergency path exists precisely because Michigan is not a permitless-carry state.

• An emergency license is valid for 45 days or until the county clerk issues a notice of statutory disqualification, whichever occurs first.
• The license becomes no longer valid if the holder does not complete a pistol training course under MCL 28.425j and apply for a regular CPL under MCL 28.425b within 10 business days after applying for the emergency license.
• An individual may not obtain more than one emergency license in any 5-year period, and must surrender an unexpired emergency license to the county clerk if a notice of statutory disqualification is later issued.

Denial and the Right to Appeal (MCL 28.425b)

Because a permit is required, the statute also builds in a denial-notification and appeal process. Under MCL 28.425b(13), when the county clerk denies an application or issues a notice of statutory disqualification, the clerk must, not later than 5 business days after that notice:

• MCL 28.425b(13)(a): inform the individual in writing of the reasons for the denial or disqualification, including each statutory disqualification identified and the source and contact information for the underlying record.
• MCL 28.425b(13)(b): inform the individual in writing of the right to appeal the denial or notice of statutory disqualification to the circuit court as provided in MCL 28.425d.

Note that MCL 28.425b(14) is a separate rule: if a CPL or notice of statutory disqualification is not issued within 45 days after classifiable fingerprints are taken, the fingerprinting receipt serves as a CPL when carried with a state-issued driver license or personal identification card. Subsection (14) is the receipt-serves-as-CPL provision, not the denial-and-appeal provision.

Self-Defense Law Is Separate From Carry Status

Michigan's "stand your ground" rule is a criminal-law doctrine and is independent of whether the state has permitless carry:

• MCL 780.972 allows an individual who is not engaged in the commission of a crime to use deadly force, anywhere he or she has a legal right to be, with no duty to retreat, when the statutory conditions are met.
• MCL 780.973 provides that, except as stated in MCL 780.972, the act does not modify Michigan's common law as it existed on October 1, 2006 regarding the duty to retreat.
• MCL 780.974 provides that the act does not diminish an individual's common-law right to use deadly force or other force in self-defense or defense of another.

These sections address the criminal duty to retreat. None of MCL 780.972 through MCL 780.974 creates civil immunity, and they should not be cited for that proposition.

Federal Items and Interstate Transport (Context)

Constitutional carry concerns ordinary handguns and does not change federal regulation of National Firearms Act (NFA) items. For Michigan residents who possess NFA items lawfully:

• In Michigan's penal definitions, MCL 750.222(k) defines "short-barreled rifle" and MCL 750.222(l) defines "short-barreled shotgun."
• Interstate transport of a destructive device, machine gun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle requires advance authorization from the ATF Director under 27 CFR 478.28, not the transfer-procedure rules in 27 CFR 479.84, 479.85, or 479.105.
• Under Pub. L. 119-21, the NFA making and transfer tax is $200 for a machinegun or destructive device and $0 otherwise. The change applies to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025, so the first qualifying quarter is January 1, 2026.

A Note on School Zones

Michigan's weapon-free-school-zone offense, MCL 750.237a, applies only to the specific weapon offenses listed in that statute (for example, conduct proscribed under the enumerated sections such as MCL 750.224, 750.226, and 750.227). It does not convert "any felony committed in a school zone" into a school-zone offense.

Legislative Efforts Toward Permitless Carry

Lawmakers have introduced permitless-carry legislation in Michigan on multiple occasions, but none has been enacted.

2023 State-Level Legislation

• House Bills 4710, 4711, and 4715 were introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives in June 2023, sponsored by state Reps. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia), Bryan Posthumus (R-Greenville), and Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Twp.).
• The bills would have allowed any legal gun owner to carry a firearm in areas previously limited to open carry or to CPL holders.
• The package would also have struck Michigan's duty-to-inform requirement, the disclosure obligation now found in MCL 28.425f(3).
• Similar legislation introduced in the Michigan Senate in May 2023 stalled in the Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety Committee.
• Republican lawmakers had introduced comparable legislation in earlier sessions.
• The 2023 bills faced strong opposition given the Democratic majorities then in both the state House and Senate. Even the sponsors acknowledged the legislation was unlikely to pass.

Federal Concealed Carry Reciprocity Legislation

• H.R. 38 (Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act), sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), was introduced in the U.S. House with 124 Republican cosponsors, including Michigan Republican Reps. Jack Bergman, Bill Huizenga, and John Moolenaar.
• If enacted, the bill would let a person who can lawfully carry a concealed firearm in their home state do so when visiting other states, including Michigan.
• Supporters and critics agree it would effectively require Michigan to recognize the carry rights of visitors from states that do not require a permit. As a federal bill, H.R. 38 is separate from Michigan's own permitless-carry proposals.

Context

• In 2023, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of firearm laws that added background-check expansions, safe-storage requirements, and extreme-risk protection orders ("red flag" laws), moving Michigan away from, not toward, permitless carry.
• As of 2023 reporting, 26 states had some form of permitless carry. By 2026, reporting on the federal reciprocity bill placed that figure at 29 states.
• Michigan is not among the permitless-carry states.

Key Takeaway

Michigan residents must obtain a Concealed Pistol License (CPL) to carry a concealed pistol, and CPL holders remain subject to statutory carrying duties, including the disclosure duty in MCL 28.425f and the impairment limits in MCL 28.425k. No constitutional-carry or permitless-carry law has been enacted in Michigan despite repeated legislative attempts. The statutory penalties above (civil infractions for disclosure violations, tiered penalties for carrying while impaired, and the denial-and-appeal process) reflect the rules of a permit-required state.