Airsoft Laws in Michigan: Avoid Being Braking the Law

Airsoft Laws In Michigan

 

What are the Airsoft laws in Michigan?  Am I breaking the law by having an Airsoft Gun? The answer to these questions may determine whether the law considers you a criminal or upstanding citizen in the state of Michigan. The short answer to this is up until 2015, you would be breaking the law if you owned an Airsoft gun in the state of Michigan. However, this changed with the enactment of the Senate Bill 85, (more on this later) and therefore all airguns including Airsoft guns are legal in the state of Michigan.  Below are the details of what is contained in the new 2015 legislation.

Airsoft Laws in Michigan

Airsoft Laws in Michigan Controlling Transport:

The law prohibits you from transporting an Airsoft gun if you have loaded with metal pellets. The law specifies a caliber restriction on this law: .177 caliber. However, my advice is, don’t transport your Airsoft gun when it is loaded. This small act will save you a world of misery.

Now if you own an Airsoft gun that is greater than .177 caliber, You need to follow the following rules when transporting your gun:

  1. Unload the weapon of all its ammo
  2. AND:
    • EITHER Take the gun apart
    • Enclose it in a case
    • Carry it in the trunk of your vehicle
    • OR Carry it in an area of the car that is inaccessible from the interior of the vehicle.
The penalty for violation:

Either 90 days in jail or a fine that is not more than $100 or both.

Michigan Airsoft Gun Laws prevent Airsoft guns in Schools

The law prevents you from entering into a school with an Airsoft gun. The law regulating this rule classifies an Airsoft gun as a weapon.

The penalty is quite hefty:

  • Imprisonment for not more than 93 days.
  • Community service for not more than 100 hours.
  • A fine of not more than $2,000.00.

With the fines being that high , you need to be careful that your children do not carry this “toy” to a school premises. It may seem harmless but I advise you to take this seriously. You do not want to find yourself on the wrong side of the law. A number of children have found themselves in such situations (see the cases in New Jersey) and the first reaction they gave when they were arrested is that they did not think that it was such a big deal.

Exemption to this clause

The law exempts you from following this clause if you are within the following categories:

  1. Security officer in the school mandated to carry the weapon,
  2. A peace officer: (a civil officer appointed to preserve law and order, such as a sheriff or police officer.)
  3. You are a person licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
  4. If the gun is issued by the school as part of training.
  5. You have been allowed to carry the Airsoft gun specifically either by the school principal or an agent of the school specifically appointed by the school board to give such mandates.
  6. You are an adult (18 years and above) transporting a child to or from the school and you have done one of the following:
    • wrapped the gun in a container
    • placed it in a place that is inaccessible to any of the occupants of the car eg the trunk.
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Airsoft Laws in Michigan Controlling Use

Knowingly pointing, displaying or using an Airsoft gun with the purpose of intimating  or  threatening anyone will get you in serious trouble. You may land yourself a fine of about $5,000 or 4 years in jail. Don’t go pointing your Airsoft gun to anyone unless you like the color Orange. 🙂

Also, there are a number of ordinances in several jurisdictions within Michigan state that prohibit firing of an Airsoft Gun within the city limits. Make sure you check the ordinances that regulate the use of Airsoft Guns within your area.

Airsoft guns used in a crime

If you use an Airsoft gun to commit a crime, you will get yourself the same judgment as a person using a real gun. This is a logical direction that helps keep general society safe. An average person will distinguish between a real gun an Airsoft toy and this law helps to protect them.

Here is what the law says…

Sec. 226. (1) A person shall not, with intent to use the same unlawfully against the person of another, go armed with a pistol or other firearm, or a pneumatic gun, dagger, dirk, razor, stiletto, or knife having a blade over 3 inches in length, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument.

So if you use an Airsoft gun to commit a crime, your penalty looks like this…

(2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $2,500.00.

Additionally, if you use an Airsoft gun in committing or attempting to commit a crime, you can get yourself up to 10 years in jail.

Airsoft Laws in Michigan Controlling Purchase:

Though the law does not explicitly direct the purchase of Airsoft guns, the laws and ordinances in several jurisdictions within the state prohibit the sale of the guns to minors.

A Final Word

Whatever the law states, you need to always remember that an airsoft gun is not a toy. It is  a dangerous tool and should be treated with the same respect you would have for an actual firearm.

In Addition to this, the fact that most airsoft guns are made as a 1:1 replica of an actual firearm means that a person who does not know airsoft would mistakenly assume that you are carrying an actual firearm. For this reason, It is really important to always carry your airsoft gun in a gun bag or case. If you don’t have one, Buy one now on Amazon. The links below have a list of affordable cases or bags that you might want to consider.

Check out Airsoft Gun Bags On Amazon

View Airsoft Gun Cases on Amazon

In Addition to this, You need to take safety really seriously when you are playing on the field. I have written a piece on Airsoft Safety that gives you a run-through the Airsoft safety Rules, Tips to stay safe when playing and what to do when you get an injury.

Tell me what you think

We have compiled all the Airsoft Laws by State. Find out what the law in your state says about Airsoft Guns.

AL  AK  AZ  AR  CA  CO  CT  DE  FL  GA  HI  ID  IL  IN  IA  KS  KY  LA  ME  MD  MA  MI  MN  MS  MO  MT  NE  NV  NH  NJ  NM  NY  NC ND  OH  OK  OR  PA  RI  SC  SD  TN  TX  UT  VT  VA  WA  WV  WI  WY

Take a look and tell us if our posts are accurate for the state that you live in. Please also leave a comment on whether your state enforces these laws or not. We would love to hear your feedback. I will strive to keep these laws updated. Let me know if this is not the case in the comment section below.

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