Markers a firearm under Michigan law?

[Lohman446]

"Crimes - Felon in Possession of Firearm - Firearm - Definition

For the purpose of the offense of felon in possession of a firearm, a "firearm" is a weapon from which a dangerous projectile may be propelled by an explosive, or by gas or air, but does not include a smooth bore rifle or handgun designed and manufactured exclusively for propelling by a spring, or by gas or air, BBs not exceeding .177 caliber. "

MCL 750.222(b), MCL 750.224f(1)
This is from a Michigan appelate court.

Does that statement worry anyone else? It is the standard definition of a firearm used in multiple places by the State of Michigan (the other place I know for certain it is used in is the hunting rulebook pamphlet you get when purchasing a hunting permit).

I do need to make something clear on this subject - to the best of my knowledge Michigan does not enforce this law against paintball markers, anywhere (around here I have played paintball with a local police chief and State trooper) - if it did paintball markers would be subject to the same sale restrictions, background checks, age restrictions, transporation restrictions, and misc. other restrictions placed on firearms. My concern is not with the current enforcement of the law, but the possible enforcement of it.

Can anyone imagine this situation - someone is injured by stupidity in paintball in Michigan (for some reason someone is shot with their mask off and it does serious damage, or an extremely hot gun, whatever causes it - something we know cannot happen if safety precautions are followed). Worse yet, someone intentionally shoots someone in a fight. A district attorney, unfamilar with the case looks into it - and finds that there is nothing that would keep him from prosecuting the offender as having used a firearm... for some paintball player this is a nightmare - and the media grabs hold of it... then district attorneys seeking to curb "gun loopholes" come down hard on many players. Oh, btw, the company that sent that semi-automatic firearm in the mail to a felon or child, now has a severe problem in the civil courts, as does the field, and most anyone else involved.

Is this going to happen, likely not but it could. What is my purpose here. At this point I think that we - paintball players and the businesses around paintball need to be proactive on this issue. I think we, as paintball players need to bring it to the attention of those that can do something about it. This is our sport, we need to make certain that our markers are not confused with real guns - and we need to make certain, that as much as the public does not confuse them, that the law especially does not confuse them.

Ideas? My thoughts at this point are to look at the model used to exclude paintball markers from recent Canadian laws to make certain that this sport is legal in Michigan.

And yes, I will continue to play, to have fun with this, and not run for cover. This is not something that occupies my every waking moment, it is something that concerns me, and something I beleive we should do something about.

[Lohman446]

How to legally purchase a paintball marker in Michigan (gods, I hate stupid laws - following an unjust law makes one unjust, and I doubt this law has ever been followed in regards to paintball markers, and hope it never has to be, but techinically, it is the law)

"Michigan residents, .177 CALIBER AIR RIFLES CAN BE PURCHASED DIRECTLY ON THE WEB SITE AND WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO YOU. No air pistols of any caliber can be sold to you unless the proper permits are issued by the State and local authorities.
According to Michigan law Sec. 222. As used in this chapter: (b) "Firearm" means a weapon from which a dangerous projectile may be propelled by an explosive, or by gas or air. Firearm does not include a smooth bore rifle or handgun designed and manufactured exclusively for propelling by a spring, or by gas or air, Bb's not exceeding .177 caliber.

Michigan residents, if you would like to purchase something other than a .177 caliber air rifle, we will ship it to you, however you will have to follow the steps below:

1. Inform our company of the item you want to purchase.
2. The item will be shipped to the designated dealer/retailer in your area. Your job is to find a participating dealer/retailer and let us know where to ship your gun.
3. Go to your local police department to obtain a Permit to Purchase the airgun. Each airgun purchase must have a separate Permit.
4. After the Permit is issued to you by the Police take it to the gun store where your gun will be shipped.
5. After the Permit is presented to the store and the fee is paid they will hand over the airgun to you.
6. Take the airgun back to the police department, where they will conduct a safety check and ballistics test.
After it is determined that the gun is safe and tests are conducted you will be ready to take the airgun home."



This was copied from http://www.pyramydair.com/

[Animal Mother]

That is lame.

A firearm is something that projects a metal projectile by an explosion. Why else would it be called a FIREarm.

There is no FIRE in compressed air. it can't be a FIREarm. if a marker were a FIREarm then you would need to do a DOJ background check everytime you purchased one since that is a fedral law.

Here I thought California was stupid.

[Lohman446]

Point - they do not meet the definition of firearm under federal law because of the lack of explosive propellant. I actually checked the wording yesterday, don't recall it exactly, but it did have to do with explosive propellant. Good catch on your part

Counterpoint - However, they do meet the definition of firearm under Michigan law - you could not be tried under federal law but you could be tried under state law. This is alarming, this is stupid - and it needs to be addressed

[shartley]

[Lohman446]

http://www.atf.treas.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/pdf/michigan.pdf

BTW, there is a longer version of the Michigan firearm laws obscenely obsolete (1931). I dont think that paintball markers should be governed by that law - I don't think that the law is enforced against paintball markers currently - I do beleive it could be.

Anyone want to show me how a paintball is not a firearm under Michigan law - I understand that it is not treated as such in practice - but common practice does not necessarily make something legal. Your right - most places will send markers into Michigan (thank god, and they should, etc.) but just doing something does not make it legal. I have never had to comply with firearm laws in regards to a paintball marker and hope that I never will. But I do beleive that we are all ignoring the law as it stands.

[shartley]

[Lohman446]

I hope there is something I am missing - and I have looked around quite a bit for it. Factually many laws are simply disregarded as time moves on - (look at the books of dumb laws). I doubt there is, I doubt the law will ever come into play in regards to paintball (though again it could). This is just something that should be a concern - seems how the word gun in the media seems to grab attention so quickly almost as quickly as it would in civil court in the event of a lawsuit.


A jury: 12 people who were too stupid to get out of jury duty - this was on a test in my business law class in college just for a reminder to all of us. (no offense intended to anyone, and those of you that have completed your civic duty to the best of your ability you have my gratitude, for you are an imporantant part of the system.

[shartley]

And this page that details MI laws mentions pellet guns and BB guns, but never once mentions Paintball Guns.

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws.asp?FormMode=Detail&R=MI

[Recon by Fire]

I am glad I do not reside in Michigan! Here in Texas you can actually have a gun that uses gunpowder to propel the ammunition and it is still not a firearm!

Antique or curio guns manufactured before 1899 and replicas thereof which do not use rim fire or center fire ammunition are not included in the definition of "firearm" as it is used in Texas Penal Code Title 10, Chapter 46, which governs weapons.

They are getting close to passing an amendment to our concelaed carry law to allow licensees to carry inside government buildings too!

[kosmo]

One thing that has suprised me about the military is paintball guns are considered weapons which must be kept in the unit arms room, under lock and key. Im not allowed to have any knives longer than 3 inches in my room, those all have to be kept in the arms room too. And so do my airsoft guns, even the 30 dollar mini electro steyr aug I have. Technically speaking, the rule book says that I am not allowed to withdraw these items from the arms room except for cleaning and hunting. I dont hunt with my paintball and airsoft guns, or my kitchen knives for that matter. And it is darn near impossible trying to find the one person in the unit with keys to the arms room on the weekend. So naturally, Ill never be keeping my property there, until I own an actual weapon. I dont know about everyone else in the Army, but I joined to protect rights, not be stripped of them.

[shartley]

Originally posted by kosmo
One thing that has suprised me about the military is paintball guns are considered weapons which must be kept in the unit arms room, under lock and key. Im not allowed to have any knives longer than 3 inches in my room, those all have to be kept in the arms room too. And so do my airsoft guns, even the 30 dollar mini electro steyr aug I have. Technically speaking, the rule book says that I am not allowed to withdraw these items from the arms room except for cleaning and hunting. I dont hunt with my paintball and airsoft guns, or my kitchen knives for that matter. And it is darn near impossible trying to find the one person in the unit with keys to the arms room on the weekend. So naturally, Ill never be keeping my property there, until I own an actual weapon. I dont know about everyone else in the Army, but I joined to protect rights, not be stripped of them.

[Lohman446]

On a side note to the above - the same rules for not keeping in your possession apply specifically to paintball markers at some if not all colleges - I specifically checked Eastern, Western, and Central Michigan Universities and found they were all banned.

[Recon by Fire]

Originally posted by kosmo
I dont know about everyone else in the Army, but I joined to protect rights, not be stripped of them.

You didn't think you would maintain all the freedoms a civilian enjoy, did you? Besides, you shouldn't rtust S-2 guys with sharp objects and such I used to keep a 6" boot knife, a 5" aviator survival knife, machete, and 2 smoke grenades (all atached to my LBE) in my wall locker all the time. We did have to keep firearms in the arms room though, but if we signed them out for the weekend, they were stored in our rooms or off-post.

[jinxed]

Mass has a law similar to Michigan.

They consider BB guns to be weapons, so you need a FIREARM permit to buy BBguns OR EVEN BBs! Yes, you need a background check to buy BBs....

However, despite being full of ignorant politicians, they managed to exclude paintball guns as legitimate sporting equipment. I expect if enough people complain, Michigan will go the same route as Mass and make an exception.

Fortuently for me, I live in Maine where you can do whatever the heck you want...

nick