A few days ago we were boondocking in Idaho, and some four legged critters decided to crawl under our hood and start eating the insulation off of any wires they found. I dispatched a couple of them with my trusty wrist rocket, but decided that it was time to move up in camp robber armament. Today, back in civilization, I bought a Crosman 1377 pump .177 airpistol. Back in the home on wheels, I did some googling and found a place that still has the shoulder stocks for that pistol, and ordered one. While doing that, I came upon this:

Michigan residents, .177 CALIBER AIR RIFLES AND AIR PISTOLS CAN BE PURCHASED DIRECTLY ON THE WEB SITE AND WILL BE SHIPPED DIRECTLY TO YOU. Air pistols with shoulder stocks, air rifles with overall length less than 26" or barrels length less than 16" of any caliber cannot 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.

That is almost as bad as the CA firearms laws. REAL firearms. I feel for you folks in Michigan...

It's interesting what's considered a firearm in some parts. I've heard that airguns fall in that category in several surprising places. I looked into an airgun to dispatch of a friend's rat problem in their yard, and found out from the clerk that it's illegal to fire an airgun within city limits of Portland. I found that a little odd. Haven't looked up that actual laws yet, but the clerk showed a little brochure mentioning some laws to be aware of around town.

J

Actually, both the Michigan laws and the Portland laws or something like them are a lot more common, though not as enforced, perhaps.

A while back when I was still living in Washington State I asked the local DA what the municipal laws and regs were on using a pellet rifle or my red ryder bb gun, or even my wrist rocket. I was told that discharging such items was illegal inside the city limits. Now I don't expect those rules to be enforced unless I do something stupid like shoot someone or get witnessed shooting an animal or someone else's property or otherwise being a nuisance with it. Still, the laws are on the books, so I guess you decide the risks you are going to take. The crime of affray allows someone to file an intimidation complaint against you if they feel you are weilding or or brandishing an item in a threatening manner, and the minimum standard that constitutes a threat gets lower if the item is a weapon of any sort, including a knife, a toy gun, a bb gun, or even a wrist rocket.

Basically, if someone wants to cause you a lot of trouble, it isn't that hard to do. If Mr door to door salesman rings your doorbell and you answer the door with a shotgun in your hand and he sees it, the next visitor to ring you doorbell could be a cop.

One part that really got me was "...Take the airgun back to the police department, where they will conduct a safety check and ballistics test..." Their police have the personnel and equipment to do a ballistic test on a BB gun? Maybe we should move there, stupid law and all, if their crime rate is so low that the police have time to do this stuff...

What do you wanna bet the reason for the mfr disclaimer is because some "concerned citizen" filed a complaint with the AG for Michigan state because some kid got caught shooting his "Air pistol with shoulder stock" at something he shouldn't have, or some such, and the AG contacted the mfr and threatened them.

I bet if nothing else changed in ten years or less that disclaimer would go away.

There had to have been a lawyer or three involved in it...