95.3 / 88.5 FM Grand Rapids and 95.3 FM Muskegon
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bill would eliminate Michigan's pistol registration mandate

handgun
Ken Lunde via Wikimedia | CC BY 2.0
/
Wikimedia.org

A Michigan lawmaker has drafted legislation that aims to eliminate the state's pistol registration mandate.

Under current state law, a person cannot purchase, carry, possess, or transport a pistol in Michigan without first obtaining a license for it. But MLive.com reports that a bill introduced by Republican state Rep. Lee Chatfield of Levering would make those registrations optional, and eliminate the $250 fine for not registering.

Chatfield says Michigan's requirement does little to fight crime and the government has no need for a "list of law-abiding citizens who legally purchase pistols."

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary.

It would need to pass the full House, full Senate and be approved by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.