Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL) - Permit Basics

Governing Law

Michigan's concealed carry permit is officially called a Concealed Pistol License (CPL), governed by the Firearms Act, MCL 28.421 through MCL 28.435 (1927 PA 372, as amended).

Issuing Authority

As of December 1, 2015, all county concealed weapons licensing boards were eliminated, and CPL applications are now processed by the county clerk of the county in which the applicant resides (MCL 28.425a, MCL 28.425b(1)).

• The Michigan State Police (MSP) does not issue or deny CPL applications.
• The MSP verifies an applicant's statutory disqualifications through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN) and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and reports any disqualifications to the county clerk (MCL 28.425b(6)).
• The county clerk is responsible for issuing either a CPL or a notice of statutory disqualification within 45 days after classifiable fingerprints are taken (MCL 28.425b(13)).

Application Process

Step 1: Submit Application and Pay Fee

The applicant must apply to the county clerk in the county in which the applicant resides and pay a nonrefundable application and licensing fee of $100.00 (MCL 28.425b(1), (5)). The application must be on a form provided by the MSP and is signed under oath. The county clerk issues the applicant a receipt at the time the application is submitted (MCL 28.425b(1)). Intentionally making a material false statement on the application is a felony punishable by up to 4 years imprisonment or a fine of up to $2,500.00, or both (MCL 28.425b(3)).

Step 2: Fingerprinting

After submitting the application and paying the fee, the applicant must request that classifiable fingerprints be taken by one of the following entities, if that entity provides fingerprinting capability for the purposes of the Firearms Act (MCL 28.425b(9)):

• County clerk
• Michigan State Police
• County sheriff
• Local police agency
• Other entity providing fingerprinting capability for purposes of the Firearms Act

Key fingerprinting details (MCL 28.425b(9)):

• The applicant must pay a $15.00 fee to the entity taking the fingerprints.
• The applicant must provide the entity with his or her application receipt issued under MCL 28.425b(1).
• The entity must take the fingerprints within 5 business days after the request.
• The entity must issue the applicant a receipt at the time the fingerprints are taken, containing the applicant's name, the date and time the receipt is issued, the amount paid, the name of the entity, and the applicant's driver license or state ID number.

An application is considered withdrawn if the applicant does not have fingerprints taken within 45 days after the application is filed (MCL 28.425b(1)).

Step 3: Issuance Timeline

• The county clerk must issue a CPL or a notice of statutory disqualification within 45 days after classifiable fingerprints are taken (MCL 28.425b(13)).
• Under MCL 28.425b(14), 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 an official state-issued driver license or personal identification card. It is valid as a CPL until a CPL or notice of statutory disqualification is issued. Note: a fingerprinting-receipt CPL does NOT exempt the holder from the License-to-Purchase requirement. See "Purchase License Exemption Limitations" below.

Denial and Notice of Statutory Disqualification

If the county clerk issues a notice of statutory disqualification, the clerk must, not later than 5 business days after that notice, inform the individual in writing of the reasons for the denial. That notice must include a statement of each statutory disqualification identified, the source of the record for each disqualification, and the contact information for that source, and it must inform the individual of the right to appeal and to contact the record source to correct any errors (MCL 28.425b(13)(a)-(b)).

Renewal Process

• A CPL, including a renewal, is valid until the licensee's date of birth that falls not less than 4 years or more than 5 years after the license is issued or renewed (MCL 28.425l(1)).
• The renewal application and licensing fee is $123.00 (MCL 28.425l(1), (2)).
• The county clerk must issue a renewal CPL or a notice of statutory disqualification within 30 days after the renewal application is received (MCL 28.425l(3)).
• Per MCL 28.425l(6), if an individual applies for a renewal CPL before the expiration of the current CPL, the expiration date of the current CPL is extended until the renewal CPL or notice of statutory disqualification is issued.
• Per MCL 28.425l(7), a person carrying a concealed pistol after the expiration date of the CPL under a renewal extension must at all times possess:
  • The renewal receipt issued by the county clerk under MCL 28.425l(3), AND
  • His or her expired CPL
• The renewal receipt is considered part of the CPL until a renewal CPL is issued or denied, or until a notice of statutory disqualification is issued (MCL 28.425l(7)).

Emergency CPL

Under MCL 28.425a(4), a county clerk must issue an emergency license to carry a concealed pistol (emergency CPL) to an individual who:

1. Is eligible based on a LEIN criminal record check under the cross-referenced provisions of MCL 28.425b(7), AND
2. Meets one of the following conditions:
   • Has obtained a personal protection order issued under MCL 600.2950 or MCL 600.2950a, OR
   • A county sheriff has determined there is clear and convincing evidence to believe the safety of the applicant, or of a member of the applicant's family or household, is endangered by the applicant's inability to immediately obtain a CPL.

Emergency CPL details (MCL 28.425a(4)):

• An applicant for an emergency license must, within 10 business days after applying for the emergency license, complete a pistol training course under MCL 28.425j and apply for a regular CPL under MCL 28.425b. If the applicant does not complete a training course and apply for a regular CPL within those 10 business days, the emergency license is no longer valid.
• Except as otherwise provided, an emergency license is valid for 45 days or until the county clerk issues a notice of statutory disqualification, whichever occurs first.
• An individual cannot obtain more than 1 emergency license in any 5-year period.
• A county sheriff may charge a fee not to exceed $15.00 for the determination, record check, and fingerprints; a county clerk may charge a fee not to exceed $10.00 for printing an emergency license.
• An emergency license will indicate if the holder is exempt from the prohibitions against carrying a concealed pistol on the premises described in MCL 28.425o, if the applicant provides acceptable proof of the exemption.
• An emergency license does NOT exempt the holder from complying with all applicable laws for the purchase of firearms (MCL 28.425c(1)(i), MCL 28.422a(1)(a)).
• If the county clerk later issues a notice of statutory disqualification, the holder must immediately surrender an unexpired emergency license. An individual who fails to surrender it after being notified of a statutory disqualification is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days imprisonment or a fine of up to $500.00, or both.

Carry Requirements for CPL Holders

Possession of CPL and Identification

Per MCL 28.425f(1)-(2), an individual licensed to carry a concealed pistol must have both of the following in his or her possession at all times while carrying a concealed pistol or a portable device that uses electro-muscular disruption (EMD) technology:

• The CPL, AND
• A state-issued driver license or personal identification card

Both items must be shown to a peace officer upon request. Under MCL 28.425f(4), violating the possession or display requirement is a state civil infraction punishable by a $100.00 fine.

Duty to Disclose

Per MCL 28.425f(3), a CPL holder who is carrying a concealed pistol or an EMD device and who is stopped by a peace officer must immediately disclose to the peace officer that he or she is carrying a pistol or an EMD device concealed on his or her person or in his or her vehicle.

A violation of the duty to disclose is a state civil infraction for both first and subsequent offenses (not a misdemeanor). The fines and license consequences under MCL 28.425f(5) are:

• First offense: a fine of $500.00 and the holder's CPL is suspended for 6 months.
• Subsequent offense within 3 years of a prior offense: a fine of $1,000.00 and the holder's CPL is revoked.

When an individual is found responsible for a civil infraction under MCL 28.425f(5), the peace officer notifies the MSP, which notifies the issuing county clerk, who must suspend or revoke the license accordingly (MCL 28.425f(6)).

Implied Consent and Carrying Under the Influence

Acceptance of a CPL constitutes implied consent to submit to a chemical analysis of breath, blood, or urine when a peace officer has probable cause to believe an individual is carrying a concealed pistol or EMD device in violation of MCL 28.425k (MCL 28.425k(1), (4)). This requirement also applies to individuals listed in MCL 28.432a who are exempt from the requirements for obtaining a CPL, including regularly employed police officers and nonresidents licensed by their state of residence (MCL 28.425k(1)).

MCL 28.425k(2) sets three distinct offense tiers for carrying a concealed pistol or EMD device while under the influence. Do not treat this as a single civil-infraction regime:

• (a) Under the influence, or .10 BAC or more: If the person was under the influence of alcoholic liquor or a controlled substance (or a combination), or had a bodily alcohol content of .10 or more, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days imprisonment or a $100.00 fine, or both. The court must order the county clerk to revoke the CPL (MCL 28.425k(2)(a)).
• (b) .08 to less than .10 BAC: The person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days imprisonment or a $100.00 fine, or both. The court must order the county clerk to suspend the CPL for 3 years (MCL 28.425k(2)(b)).
• (c) .02 to less than .08 BAC: The person is responsible for a state civil infraction and is fined $100.00. The county clerk must suspend the CPL for 1 year (MCL 28.425k(2)(c)).

"Under the influence" means the individual's ability to properly handle a pistol or to exercise clear judgment regarding its use was substantially and materially affected by the consumption of alcoholic liquor or a controlled substance (MCL 28.425k(8)(c)).

Refusal of a chemical test: Before requiring a chemical analysis, the peace officer must inform the individual that he or she may refuse, but that the officer may then obtain a court order requiring the analysis and that the refusal results in the individual's CPL being suspended for 6 months (MCL 28.425k(5)).

MCL 28.425k(3) does not prohibit a CPL holder who has any bodily alcohol content from transporting the pistol unloaded in the locked trunk, or in a locked compartment or container separated from the ammunition if the vehicle has no trunk, or from similarly transporting an EMD device.

Purchase License Exemption Limitations

Under MCL 28.422a(1)(a), an individual licensed under MCL 28.425b is generally not required to obtain a separate license to purchase a pistol. That exemption does NOT apply, however, to the following, who remain subject to the License-to-Purchase requirements of MCL 28.422:

• An individual with an emergency CPL issued under MCL 28.425a(4)
• An individual who has a fingerprinting receipt serving as a CPL under MCL 28.425b(9)
• An individual who has a renewal receipt serving as a CPL under MCL 28.425l(3)

Appeals Process

Per MCL 28.425d(1), an applicant may appeal to the circuit court in the judicial circuit in which the applicant resides if the county clerk issues a notice of statutory disqualification, fails to provide a required receipt, or fails to issue a CPL. The appeal is determined by a review of the record for error.

If the court determines the notice of statutory disqualification, the failure to provide a receipt, or the failure to issue a license was clearly erroneous or arbitrary and capricious, the court must order the county clerk to issue the license or receipt, and the court may order the responsible entity to refund the applicant's filing fees and, where the action was arbitrary and capricious, to pay the applicant's actual costs and attorney fees (MCL 28.425d(2)-(3)). If the court determines the appeal was frivolous, it must order the applicant to pay the responding entity's actual costs and attorney fees (MCL 28.425d(4)).

MCL 28.425d does not itself set a filing deadline. Any deadline for filing the appeal is governed by the applicable Michigan Court Rules for circuit court appeals, which can change independently of the Firearms Act. Confirm the current deadline with the court or counsel before filing.

Prior Legislation (Historical Note)

Senate Bills 76, 77, and 78 of the 2023-2024 session would have expanded Michigan's pistol-purchase license requirement to cover long guns (rifles and shotguns) and broadened related record-keeping rules. They did not become law in that session and have not been re-introduced as of 2026.