SENATE BILL No. 63

 

 

January 16, 2013, Introduced by Senators PAVLOV, JONES, GREEN, CASPERSON, MEEKHOF, PROOS, JANSEN, BRANDENBURG, HILDENBRAND, NOFS, COLBECK, EMMONS and MARLEAU and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

 

 

     A bill to create the Michigan firearms freedom act; to make

 

certain findings regarding intrastate commerce; to prohibit federal

 

regulation of firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition

 

involved purely in intrastate commerce in this state; to provide

 

for certain exceptions to federal regulation; and to establish

 

certain manufacturing requirements.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the

 

"Michigan firearms freedom act".

 

     Sec. 2. The legislature finds all of the following:

 

     (a) Amendment X of the constitution of the United States

 

guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to

 

the federal government elsewhere in the constitution and reserves

 

to the state and people of Michigan certain powers as they were

 

understood at the time that Michigan was admitted to statehood on

 

January 26, 1837. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of

 

contract between the state and people of Michigan and the United

 

States as of the time that the compact with the United States was

 

agreed upon and adopted by Michigan and the United States.

 

     (b) Amendment IX of the constitution of the United States

 

guarantees to the people rights not granted in the constitution and

 

reserves to the people of Michigan certain rights, as they were

 

understood at the time that Michigan was admitted to statehood. The

 

guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state

 

and people of Michigan and the United States as of the time that

 

the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by

 

Michigan and the United States.

 

     (c) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the

 

states under amendments IX and X of the constitution of the United

 

States, particularly if not expressly preempted by federal law.

 

Congress has not expressly preempted state regulation of intrastate

 

commerce pertaining to the manufacture on an intrastate basis of

 

firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition.

 

     (d) Amendment II of the constitution of the United States

 

reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that

 

right was understood at the time that Michigan was admitted to

 

statehood, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract

 

between the state and people of Michigan and the United States as

 

of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon

 

and adopted by Michigan and the United States.

 

     (e) Section 6 of article I of the state constitution of 1963

 

clearly secures to Michigan citizens, and prohibits government

 

interference with, the right of individual Michigan citizens to

 

keep and bear arms. This constitutional protection is unchanged

 

from the original Michigan constitution, which was approved by

 

congress and the people of Michigan, and the right exists, as it

 

was understood at the time that the compact with the United States

 

was agreed upon and adopted by Michigan and the United States.

 

     Sec. 3. A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition

 

that is manufactured commercially or privately in Michigan and that

 

remains within the borders of Michigan is not subject to federal

 

law or federal regulation, including registration, under the

 

authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is

 

declared by the legislature that those items have not traveled in

 

interstate commerce. This section applies to a firearm, a firearm

 

accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in Michigan from

 

basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion

 

of any significant parts imported from another state. Generic and

 

insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer

 

product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories, or

 

ammunition, and their importation into Michigan and incorporation

 

into a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition manufactured in

 

Michigan does not subject the firearm, firearm accessory, or

 

ammunition to federal regulation. It is declared by the legislature

 

that basic materials, such as unmachined steel and unshaped wood,

 

are not firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition and are not

 

subject to congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms

 

accessories, and ammunition under interstate commerce as if they

 

were actually firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. The

 

authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic

 

materials does not include authority to regulate firearms, firearms

 

accessories, and ammunition made in Michigan from those materials.

 

Firearms accessories that are imported into Michigan from another

 

state and that are subject to federal regulation as being in

 

interstate commerce do not subject a firearm to federal regulation

 

under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in

 

conjunction with a firearm in Michigan.

 

     Sec. 4. Section 3 does not apply to any of the following:

 

     (a) A firearm that cannot be carried and used by 1 person.

 

     (b) A firearm that has a bore diameter greater than 1-1/2

 

inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a

 

propellant.

 

     (c) Ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an

 

explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the

 

firearm.

 

     (d) A firearm that discharges 2 or more projectiles with 1

 

activation of the trigger or other firing device.

 

     Sec. 5. A firearm manufactured or sold in Michigan under this

 

act shall have the words "Made in Michigan" clearly stamped on a

 

central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.

 

     Sec. 6. This act applies to firearms, firearms accessories,

 

and ammunition that are manufactured and retained in Michigan on or

 

after October 1, 2013.

 

     Sec. 7. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Borders of Michigan" means the boundaries of Michigan

 

established for purposes of statehood.

 

     (b) "Firearms accessories" means items that are used in

 

conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but are not essential to

 

the basic function of a firearm, including, but not limited to,

 

telescopic or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound suppressors,

 

folding or aftermarket stocks and grips, speedloaders, ammunition

 

carriers, and lights for target illumination.

 

     (c) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes, but is not

 

limited to, springs, screws, nuts, and pins.

 

     (d) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory,

 

or ammunition has been created from basic materials for functional

 

usefulness, including, but not limited to, forging, casting,

 

machining, or other processes for working materials.