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Letter Sent to the city of Flat Rock,
Dear Flat Rock Officials,
I have become aware of an illegal and unenforceable ordinance you havein regards to restricting the carrying and possessing of firearms.
Sec. 58-238. Possession of weapons. It shall be unlawful for any person to use, carry or possess firearms of any description, air guns, spring guns, bow and arrows, slings or any other form of weapon potentially inimical to wildlife and also dangerous to human safety or any instrument that can be loaded with and fire blank cartridges. (Code 1979, § 9.157)
As you may or may not know, in 1990 the State of Michigan passed
MCL 123.1102 which provides, in pertinent part: A local unit of government shall not impose special taxation on, enact or enforce any ordinance or regulation pertaining to, or regulate in any other manner the ownership, registration, purchase, sale, transfer, transportation, or
possession of pistols or other firearms, ammunition for pistols or other firearms, or components of pistols or other firearms, except as otherwise provided by federal law or a law of this state.
In
MCRGO v.
Ferndale, the Michigan Court of Appeals held that local units of government may not impose restrictions upon firearms possession.
THE MICHIGAN APPEALS COURT CONCLUDED: April 29, 2003 9:10 am. v No. 242237
In sum, we conclude that § 1102 is a statute that specifically imposes a prohibition on local units of government from enacting and enforcing
any ordinances or regulations pertaining to the transportation and possession of firearms, and thus preempts any ordinance or regulation of a local unit of government concerning these areas.
Further, we conclude that the specific language of the 2000 amendments to
MCL 28.421
et seq., particularly §§ 5c and 5o, which were adopted more than a decade after the enactment of § 1102, do not repeal § 1102 or otherwise reopen this area to local regulation of the
carrying of firearms.17 Accordingly, we hold that the
Ferndale ordinance is preempted by state law and, consequently, we reverse.
My hope is that you amend this ordinance that restricts the right to carry a firearm to comply with state law. Failure to do so may be considered an act of malfeasance as it willfully misinforms the public. I look forward to your response and resolution in this matter.
Respectfully,
Scott Webb
South East Coordinator
Michigan Open Carry, Inc.
This is the response received
Mr. Webb,
I have sent your email on to the city attorney. He is the one who recommends any changes in city ordinances.
Neal A. Rossow
Chief of Police
City of Flat Rock
25500 Gibraltar Rd.
Flat Rock, MI 48134
(734) 782-2496
FBINA #212
