first time handgun buying processs in MI?

M

mcintosh02

New member
Hi folks, I'm new here.

I am 24 and looking to buy my first handgun from out of state (I can't find the model locally).

I am a bit unsure of the exact sequence of events in order to complete the purchase though. I can't seem to find a detailed walkthrough of the whole procedure anywhere.

As I understand it, I must:

Go to the local sheriff's office and request the form. Fill it out and undergo the background check.

Recieve the 10 day purchase permit.

Go to the FFL and request their releveant info.

Contact the seller with FFL info and purchase.

Wait for shipping, recieve firearm from FFL.

Take pistol and permit back to station for "inspection".


Do I have that correct? Am I missing anything?

What happens if shipping takes longer than 10 days to get the gun to me? Will I be penalised/have to resubmit?

Thanks.
 
Since you apparently need a sherrif's permit, why not call them and ask? Or call the FFL you plan to use for the transfer and ask him/her?

Seriously, you want to get precise, known and accurate information about your local and state requirements. Saying you read it on a public internet forum won't get you anywhere if the information turns out to be incorrect.
 
i definitely will ask when i go up there, but i was hoping to see if anyone had been through the process and could offer any useful tidbits.
 
You have to beg your local sheriff to let you buy a gun??? Move on down to Texas where all you have to do is walk into a gun store, pick out you weapon of choice, fill in the 4413, show them your ID, pay for the gun and leave with it. Unbeleiveable you have to get permission.
 
Get your FFL's info and order the gun, when he receives the gun go to your local police station and request a permit to purchase. Take the permit to your FFL and complete the transfer, then take the pistol and permit back to the police station and have it registered (err..."Safety Inspected"). This is the process I have gone through to buy pistols on lay-away. I assume purchases online go through the same order.

Yes, Michigan has fees and more in-depth background checks than NICS to purchase a handgun. I think it's crap :mad:, but it's better than no gun (ala Chicago). Just be glad Michigan is a "Shall Issue" state.
 
purchase permits

I have never had to wait for a purchase permit. I live in Oakland County in Michigan. I go to the Sheriffs office and ask for a purchase permit. The clerk takes my Drivers License and puts the info on the permit and I leave with the permit. Never had to wait.
 
The "Safety Inspecition" has been repealed in Michigan...

Effectively immediately...

I read about it in the NRA America's 1st Freedom, but here's the online link:

http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=52826

Anyway, I live in Michigan, Newaygo county, and I've never had to wait on a purchase permit either. I remember one day my friend was just like, "Damn, I wanna buy a pistol today". It took less than one hour from when he said that until we were shooting it. Now, just for the record, he had planned on buying a pistol for a while, but that particular day the perfect pistol for the perfect price for him was in the local gunstore.

Slow944- We don't have to beg our local sheriff. If we can legally own a gun we will get the purchase permit. Not that Michigan has the best gun laws, it would be much more convenient to have Texas laws, but it is what it is, and it's not that bad.

You don't need the purchase permit if you have a Concealed Pistol License, mcintosh02. Your CPL will act as a purchase permit.

I have been through the process of purchasing a pistol from out of state on the internet and having it sent through a FFL.

I won the item on Gunbroker, paid for it, had the FFL I was using to receive the firearm fax his FFL and shipping address along with my name and item # and what not to the FFL shipping the item. Then I waited for the call from the FFL receiving to tell me my item was there, went and got the purchase permit, filled out the paperwork at the FFL, paid him for his FFL transfer fee and brought my item home. Then I had to take it in to get "Inspected", but now you won't have to do that, thank God. It's really not that difficult of a process.

Very painless. If you have any other questions ask the FFL you want to buy from, the FFL you plan to use for receiving, or contact your local sheriff department.
 
Good information, bwheaton. I have noticed, though, that the Michigan State Police still has the safety inspection requirement listed on their Purchasing Firearms in Michigan information web page. This, of course, has no bearing on the actual law, but it might mean there are some officers out there who did not "get the memo." I hope there are no issues for anyone on that count.

BEGIN EDIT:
Well, by that I just mean it's not NICS. Permits in this state are not instant, they take 24-36 hours.
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The State of Michigan has no such requirement. If you've had to wait, it was due to another factor.
END EDIT

As far as waiting periods are concerned, whether or not the authority exists, at least one local PD has claimed a prerogative in that area. Some years ago, when I purchased a revolver from a friend, I was made to wait 10 days before they would issue a permit. I was told that it was because it was the first time I had purchased a pistol since becoming a Ferndale resident. The fact that I had lived here without incident for over five years apparently meant nothing. I don't know if other PDs have tried this, or if Ferndale is still getting away with it. They have been smacked down before by the MI Supreme Court for restricting concealed carry in defiance of Michigan's legal preemption in regard to firearms (MCL 123.1102). I can't recall exactly why I let them do that, but I feel stupid for not saying something, as I believe it was after the MCRGO v The city of Ferndale ruling came down. Make no mistake, if that happened today, I would absolutely put up a fuss.
 
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thanks for all the info guys.

i know i'm worrying over nothing, but i just wanted to make sure about the order in which i should do things. i would hate to pay for and ship the pistol and then have the permit denied for some reason.

i am positive that my record is clean, but the last time i purchased a firearm they never got the call and i just picked the rifle up after the 3 days.

thanks again for the info. i'm sure i'll post here about my new purchase.
 
The State of Michigan has no such requirement. If you've had to wait, it was due to another factor.
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You are absolutely right. In fact after checking around, it seems there have been a few complaints filed against my local PD. I too live in Oakland County, but I live in Southfield :barf: . It seems that the 24-48 hour thing is an unconstitutional local ordinance.

I decided to forgo the BS in the future and applied for my CPL last week :D. Now I feel like I'm waiting for Christmas to come...
 
well, i've ordered my pistol and it's on it's way.

now i'm just waiting to hear from the gun shop so i can go to the pd and get the purchase permit.

i know i'm a dork, but being my first handgun, it's got me excited.
 
I decided to forgo the BS in the future and applied for my CPL last week . Now I feel like I'm waiting for Christmas to come...
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You are. After that you buy the gun, fill out the paperwork, the seller calls NICS and you walk out with it.:D
 
Steyr M9A1 from CDNN. for $339 brand new i couldn't pass it up. Beside that, i've heard really good things about it as far as function, ergos, and sights, and it doesn't hurt that i think it's nearly a work of industrial art.

i had rented and fired several others while shopping around:

glock 19: didn't fit my hand and didn't feel great in general. sorry, but the human body's been around longer than the firearm, if you can't make the tool fit the user then you fail.

springfield xd: also uncomfortable. a bit flippy and least peasant to shoot.

S&W M&P: too many ampersands...haha. actually, this one felt great to hold and was a soft shooter. i may pick one up later on down the road.

it turns out that my favorite to shoot was a ruger vaquero in 45lc. i fell in lurve with that cannon, especially one handed firing. i just don't see it being a viable carry piece if i decide to go that route.
 
Strangely, when I stopped by the station when I was thinking about getting another pistol, the clerk wasn't sure about when they were going to stop the whole safety inspection thing. She told me she thought it would be January when it goes into effect.

I'm still trying to figure out what my obligations are for buying a pistol with a C&R. It SOUNDS like I don't need a license for it, but I need to pester an attorney about it. I don't like playing loose with gun laws.
 
Yeah, the no safety inspection in Michigan takes effect in 2009.

Like the other guys said, if you have a CPL you don't need the purchase permit. So once the "safety inspection" goes away, you won't have to go anywhere other than the gun shop. Looking forward to that. Since I don't live inside a city limits, I have to go to the county sheriff for the inspection. Which is half an hour from my house. In the opposite direction of where I work. Every time I buy a pistol I basically have to take half a day off work.

I have no idea why Michigan still retains the purchase permit system. Inertia, I suppose. It's been around since well before the NICS, but it's basically the same thing. Oddly enough, if you have a recently issued CPL here (since 2005, I think) you don't even have to do the NICS for a purchase.
 
Oddly enough, if you have a recently issued CPL here (since 2005, I think) you don't even have to do the NICS for a purchase.
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Must be private purchases only. All FFLs have called NICS whenever I buy a gun from them in the last few years; latest ones were 11-07 and 5-08.
 
No, it's for FFLs also.

ATF letter:
OPEN LETTER TO ALL MICHIGAN FEDERAL FIREARMS LICENSEES
The purpose of this letter is to advise you of an important change to the procedure you may
follow beginning March 24, 2006. On this day, Michigan’s Concealed Pistol Licenses (CPLs)
issued on or after November 22, 2005 will qualify as an alternative to a National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) check. Accordingly, the 1998 Open Letter to Michigan
Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) is superseded in regards to the information on “Alternatives
to a NICS check”.
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/032406openletter-ffl.pdf

If your CPL was issued before Nov. 22, 2005 though, they still have to do the NICS.

Some FFLs probably don't know that the CPL qualifies, or choose to continue to use the NICS as their own policy.
 
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