Elementary and Secondary Schools
Michigan generally prohibits people from possessing a firearm in a “weapon free school zone,” (defined to include any public, private, denominational, or parochial school offering developmental kindergarten, kindergarten, or grades one through twelve), as well as in vehicles used by a school to transport students to or from school property.1
Exceptions to this prohibition include:
- Possession of a non-concealed firearm by an individual licensed to carry a concealed weapon;2
- Possession of a weapon provided by a school or a school’s instructor on school property for purposes of providing or receiving instruction in the use of that weapon;
- Possession with the permission of the school’s principal or an agent of the school designated by the school’s principal or the school board; and
- Possession by a person 18 years of age or older who is not a student at the school, on school property, while transporting a student to or from the school, if:
The firearm is unloaded in a wrapper or container in the trunk of the person’s vehicle, while in possession of a valid Michigan hunting license or proof of valid membership in an organization having shooting range facilities, and while en route to or from a hunting or target shooting area;
The firearm is unloaded in a wrapper or container in the trunk of the person’s vehicle from the place of purchase to his or her home or place of business or to a place of repair or back to his or her home or place of business, or in moving goods from one place of abode or business to another place of abode or business; or
The firearm is unloaded in the passenger compartment of a vehicle that does not have a trunk, if the person is otherwise complying with the requirements of the aforementioned exceptions and the wrapper or container is not readily accessible to the occupants of the vehicle.3
Though Michigan allows concealed handgun license holders (and concealed weapons license holders from other states) to carry non-concealed firearms in weapons-free school zones, it prohibits such individuals from carrying concealed handguns on the premises of a school or school property, except that a parent or legal guardian of a student of the school is not precluded from carrying a concealed handgun while in a vehicle on school property, if he or she is dropping the student off at the school or picking the student up from the school.4
Michigan also prohibits persons from engaging in a list of firearm-related conduct and criminal offenses in any weapons-free school zone.5
In Michigan, if a pupil possesses a firearm in a weapons-free school zone, the school board or its designee are required to expel the pupil from the school district permanently, subject to possible reinstatement.6
Colleges and Universities
Michigan law also prohibits concealed handgun license holders from carrying a concealed handgun in a dormitory or classroom of a community college, college, or university.7
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- Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 750.237a(4), (6)(b)-(e).[↩]
- See Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 28.425 o (1)(a).[↩]
- Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 750.237a(5).[↩]
- See Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 28.425 o (1)(a).[↩]
- See Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 750.237a(1), (2).[↩]
- Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 380.1311(2). For reinstatement provisions, see Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 380.1311(5). A school board is not required to expel a pupil for possessing a firearm if the pupil establishes in a “clear and convincing manner” one of the following:
- The object or instrument possessed by the pupil was not possessed by the pupil for use as a weapon, or for direct or indirect delivery to another person for use as a weapon;
- The weapon was not knowingly possessed by the pupil;
- The pupil did not know or have reason to know that the object or instrument possessed by the pupil constituted a dangerous weapon; or the weapon was possessed by the pupil at the suggestion, request, or direction of, or with the express permission of, school or police authorities. Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 380.1311(2).[↩]
- Mich. Comp. Laws Serv. § 28.425o(1)(h). In June 2009, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted to allow the license holders to carry concealed firearms about campus. Possession of guns remains prohibited in University buildings, including classrooms and dormitories. See Brittany Shammas, MSU Allows People to Carry Concealed Firearms on Campus, The State News, June 21, 2009, at http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/06/msu_allows_people_to_carry_concealed_firearms_on_campus.[↩]