The Legal Status of Ghost Guns in Michigan
What Exactly is a Ghost Gun?
Ghost guns are do-it-yourself firearms that the government does not directly regulate. Ghost guns usually lack a serial number and can be difficult for officials to trace, leaving open the possibility that they could be used in criminal activity and then passed off as having come from the general public and not from a specific maker. Ghost guns can differ from traditional firearms in the way they are made and assembled. Because some ghost guns use parts bought from popular retailers that sell easy-to-assemble kits , they do not include a proper serial number on certain key components such as the receiver, barrel, or frame. Several websites now specialize in selling parts for ghost guns, offering kits that help buyers avoid waiting periods, background checks, and other legal requirements. These sellers provide parts that can be completed quickly with just a few readily available tools.
Ghost Gun Federal Laws
Federal Laws Regarding Ghost Guns
At a federal level, lawmakers have recently begun to address ghost guns. In June 2018, the Trump Department of Justice revived a controversial policy from the Obama administration that required states to treat gun businesses that sell untraceable, homemade guns the same as any other federally licensed firearm dealer. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) argued that this policy would help state and local law enforcement collect information on gun crimes and trace guns used in violent acts. Moreover, the revived policy will disallow states from passing laws that ban the sale of these types of firearms without federal approval.
While the above regulations shine light on the activities of those who create ghost guns, under the Gun Control Act of 1968, individuals are technically allowed to create their own firearm, provided they follow the law. In fact, individuals are allowed to opine about their personal views of what constitutes a firearm because there is no clear definition of what constitutes a firearm.
Ghost Gun Michigan State Laws
Michigan has state laws that prohibit ghost guns and ghost gun parts. Most notably, under Mich. Comp. Law § 750.224(1), all firearms must have a manufacturer’s serial number or be registered with the state. The law was enacted in 1927, and in 2018, the state added an amendment that extended these laws to ghost guns, parts kits and 3D printed firearms.
Michigan is strict about ghost guns. If prosecutors find a self-made firearm that can intentionally discharge a shot, meaning at least one live cartridge was able to be loaded into the weapon, they can charge you as a felon because the self-made firearm is unregistered.
Prosecutors and judges do not consider whether the parts were sold together in a kit or it was just a 3D printed handgun. Even if the weapon does not "look" like a firearm, it is still subject to the law. A conviction can also impact the use of firearms in a self-defense situation.
Legal Penalties for Possession
While the specter of undefined "ghosts" haunts the backwoods of the law, the term "ghost gun" is not a legal term found in the Michigan criminal laws. Instead, a ghost gun simply refers to an unregistered and/or homemade or assembled firearm. Since its creation, the ghost gun has increasingly been used simultaneously with the epithet "homemade." The "ghost" in ghost guns describes the manner in which they can disappear. No serial number, unlike manufactured firearms. And that is what makes them attractive to those wishing to evade federal laws with respect to ownership and possession. The term ghost gun is often applied to plastic 3D printed firearms and to the homemade firearms that are made from purchased or illegally obtained component parts . Homemade plastic guns are difficult to detect, yet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has recently raided several installations set up by owners of these types of guns. Because the parts used to make them readily escape detection, such as in a search of a home or business, they have become a very attractive weapons option to criminals and those engaged in illegal drug activity. Ghost guns are illegal to manufacture, sell or possess in Michigan without a license (Michigan Compiled Laws Sec. 750.224a.). No person shall manufacture, possess, sell, offer for sale, purchase, carry, transport or receive a firearm, rifle, shot gun, pistol, revolver, or other weapon enumerated under sections 224 to 233a unless he has a license issued by the state or under federal law. Basically, that means that an 80 percent receiver cannot be manufactured, sold or possessed unless a gun manufacturing license has been obtained.
How Law Enforcement Treats Ghost Guns
The law enforcement community is still coming to terms with the rise of ghost guns. The Michigan State Police have stated that their "Firearms Unit has not had any increase in cases involving ‘ghost guns.’" They state that this is largely due to the fact that the components and tools needed to assemble a ghost gun are fairly expensive, making them not cost effective for most criminals to build. While they suspect that there will, sooner or later, come a day when this is no longer the case, for now it appears that the criminals in the area have not taken to ghost guns in large numbers.
At the local level, we have heard of at least one incident where a local police force has kept a ghost gun, perhaps as a training tool to show the public what such a weapon can look like. I have spoken also with a police spokesperson who stated that while it is very difficult, if not impossible, to track ghost gun sales due to the anonymity of online sales and how little information retailers who do background checks are required to report to law enforcement, some police stations have begun keeping ghost guns as a way to have a record of what these weapons look like and how they are put together.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has also been made aware of the problem, but have given the state an idea of how to deal with it. This is because there is a grey area in American manufacturing law. While, generally, it’s illegal for civilians to create weapons from scratch, the law does tend to allow for the sale of "frames" and "receivers" of firearms. It is not illegal to sell a half-finished frame that can be completed into a fully-functioning weapon without much more than a few simple tools. It is this loophole the ATF wants to close, and since state laws vary in their treatment of ghost guns, so too does the responsibility to catch them.
Recent and Future Changes
The recent move this year by Attorney General Dana Nessel to ban .25 and .32 caliber pistols as "assault pistols" under the state’s gun laws is just the latest in a long line of attempts to curb gun violence. Nessel recently formed a committee to explore banning .380 pistols as well. Similarly, legislatures have tended to pass bills looking to regulate gun silencers and bump stocks after many tragic shooting incidents.
Just last month, Michigan State Rep. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) proposed a bill that would prohibit ghost guns in Michigan. The proposed legislation does not yet have any sponsors, and it will likely change as it works its way through the Michigan Legislature. State Rep. Sarah Anthony identifies the increase of ghost guns among young people in the state as one of the main concerns that she has about ghost guns. In the last couple of months, two 16-year-old kids were found in Lansing with ghost guns on them, and she wants to stop this.
Michigan State Rep. Julie Calley (R-Portland) believes that manufacturing your own gun is already illegal and we would just be "adding more bureaucracy to a problem that I don’t think is really a problem." An example of typical light enforcement of ghost gun laws are the citations given by the Detroit Police Officer Michael Woody on May 11 , 2019 in the 4,108 block of Saint Paul Street in Detroit, Michigan. Officers reported being called to an ongoing traffic stop in response to an unknown person on a black bicycle who was trying to steal the contents of two patrol cars. Two 16-year-old boys were found on the scene, and officers discovered they both were in possession of a ghost gun. They received a citation or a court summons, and were escorted from the area.
On February 25, 2023, the State of Michigan passed a new law requiring ghost guns to be serialized. Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law the "Casey O’Malley Act" (HB 4507), which mandates that all guns sold or manufactured in Michigan must have the serial number affixed to them. The bill, which passed state congress along party lines quickly, is named after a 17-year-old who was shot and killed in Ann Arbor in 2021. The act attempts to undermine the rise of "the latest trend in trafficking and use of weapons," according to Whitmer, and "is a giant step closer to cracking down on untraceable, manufactured guns."