[bedbugbilly]

As has already been stated, in Michigan you must register your handgun. I'm not familiar with the procedure that is required if you have a CCW but for a regular individual, you need to get a purchase permit from the PD - usually your county sheriffs dept. unless you live in a city with a PD - that is good for I believe ten days - the permit is taken to a dealer and upon purchase, the permit is returned and the weapon registered. An individual can sell to an individual, but the buyer must acquire a purchase permit which is then filled out by the seller. Seller retains one of the four parts and the buyer then has to take the permit back to the PD.

This is supposed to prevent two things - 1 - the person obtaining the purchase permit it "run" for a criminal background and if anything shows up, they are denied and 2 - the serial numbers of the weapon are "run" to check if it is stolen. While a person may grumble about it - it is really no big deal and there is no cost. Yes, the weapon is registered but at some point, it has already been registered through the FFL process. The only exception to this are perhaps "estate type handguns" - ex. - one that was brought back from the service or one that is old enough to have not passed through the FFL process.

I had a pistol given to me in the 60s that was brought back by a Navy piolot after WW II. I was going to sell it and in order to do so, had to register it. I told the girl the story behind it and she ran it through as an "estate" gun. I had to fill out a purchase permit and she ran the serial # it came back as having a clean background. I then took it to a gun dealer to sell on consignment and had to fill out the proper papers transferring ownership to him so that it was liquidated under his FFL. Again - no big deal.

Now - had I not registered the handgun that was given to me and I was transporting it to a range to shoot and for some reason got stoped by PD and I had to tell them if I had any weapons. I know that the serial # of the handgun would have been "run" and when it came back as being unregistered - and my Driver's License says I am a resident of Michigan - I could be charged with possession of an unregistered handgun.

I have never had a problem in obtaining a purchase permit nor have I ever been hassled by any officer when I went to apply for a permit or when I dropped one off after a purchase. As one officer explained to me one time - he didn't like the idea of an individual having to register a handgun either - but - every once in a while one comes through that was stolen. The process can not only help track things back and hopefully get the person/s responsible for the theft but it can also assist in getting the stolen weapon back to its rightful owner.

Let's face it. Almost every handgun is already registered through the FFL process with the execption of some that have slipped through such as "service bring backs". That's the requirement in Michigan and so be it. If the process keeps a handgun out of the hands of a convicted felon (which in Michigan, a convicted felon cannot have a handgun - yea, yea - he's done his time, so what? - That's the law and the convicted felon knows it, whether he's served his time or not knows it so keep your nose clean or don't com cryin') or preventss a stolen weapon from traveling further and maybe being returned to its rightful owner, then I don't have a problem with it.