NRA, Michigan Gun Groups Sue Over State's Licensing and Registration Scheme

A coalition of several Michigan-based 2A organizations and the National Rifle Association, along with four individual gun owners, have filed suit in federal court to challenge the state's licensing and registration scheme. 

The complaint, known as Moser v. Nessel, argues that Michigan's License to Purchase, Carry, Possess, or Transport a Pistol lacks any kind of historical pedigree consistent with the text of the Second Amendment and the national tradition of gun ownership. The suit also contends that that licensing scheme is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause because it "fails to provide adequate procedural safeguards to protect applicants against arbitrary or erroneous deprivation of fundamental rights."

In particular, the licensing regime allows for the denial of an applicant if the licensing authority determines there is  “probable cause to believe that the applicant would be a threat to the applicant or to other individuals, or would commit an offense with the firearm that would violate a law."

There is no appeals process in place if an applicant is denied, and as the complaint argues, the standard used to deny some applicants "lacks narrow, objective, and definite criteria" and instead operates as a "may issue" licensing scheme, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court four years ago.

Attorney General Dana Nessel is the primary defendant in the lawsuit, but there are multiple jurisdictions who are also named in the suit, including Battle Creek, Troy, and Kalamazoo County... and the respective chiefs and sheriffs in those locations. The complaint alleges these departments fail:

to conduct a genuine, independent evaluation of an applicant’s eligibility under Michigan law and instead relies on opaque criteria, including, in some cases, prior determinations by other jurisdictions, without providing applicants clear notice of the grounds for denial, an opportunity to be heard, or any meaningful avenue for review or appeal. These practices result in arbitrary denials and the erroneous deprivation of a fundamental constitutional right.

Dean Moser, who's the lead plaintiff, was denied a license by the Troy Police Department "based solely on purported prior 'contacts' that were materially misrepresented and on an unsubstantiated suspicion of involvement in an incident for which Moser has never been contacted by any law-enforcement agency." 

Moser waited a few months, and then applied for a license through the Battle Creek Police Department, which informed him that he would be automatically denied because of the previous denial by Troy PD. 

Moser can pass a NICS check, and is not otherwise disqualified under state or federal law from possessing a firearm. He can lawfully purchase as many rifles and shotguns as can afford in Michigan. Yet for whatever reason, he cannot lawfully purchase, possess, carry, or transport a handgun, and there is no way for him to appeal that decision. 

Other plaintiffs have been denied their own licenses despite being able to pass a background check. In one case, Reagan Janson was denied by the Walker Police Department because the department stated it had "probable cause” to believe that she had recently applied to other jurisdictions.

Michigan's licensing scheme sure sounds like it's being put to abusive ends. I don't believe licensing comports with the Second Amendment at all, but SCOTUS has blessed "shall issue" licenses, at least when it comes to bearing arms in public. Michigan's licensing scheme goes much further than that, though, and has become an easy way for police to deny someone the ability to even acquire the most common tool for self-defense based on nothing more than a subjective determination by a licensing agent. Fundamental rights are being lost as a result, and I home that lawsuit will bring these abuses to an end. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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