Bill
HB 6145
HB 6145 requires MSP to fully destroy all forfeited firearms (no sale or partial destruction), with 30-day owner notice and 30-day public notice; MSP immune from liability.
Status and timeline
- Bill number: HB 6145 — enacted as Act No. 266, Public Acts of 2024.
- Introduced: Nov. 14, 2024 (Rep. Felicia Brabec).
- Approved by Governor: Jan. 22, 2025.
- Filed with Secretary of State: Jan. 22, 2025.
- Effective date: April 2, 2025.
- Statutory change: Amends 1927 PA 372, section 14 (MCL 28.434).
Purpose and intent
- To require that firearms forfeited to the state under Michigan’s firearms licensure statute be destroyed in their entirety (including all parts) rather than sold, auctioned, or otherwise disposed of by sale.
- The change was motivated by concerns that partial destruction (e.g., destroying only the receiver/frame and selling remaining parts) can facilitate the manufacture of untraceable "ghost guns."
Key provisions (what the law does)
- Disposal method: The director of the Department of State Police (MSP) must dispose of firearms forfeited under MCL 28.434 by destroying them. The director must ensure that all parts of each firearm are destroyed.
- Notice requirements: Before disposal the director must:
- Check whether the firearm is reported lost or stolen via the Law Enforcement Information Network; if an owner can be identified, provide 30 days’ written notice so the owner may reclaim the firearm if legally entitled.
- Post 30 days’ public notice on the MSP website describing the firearm (including serial number if ascertainable). This 30-day public notice is in addition to the owner notice.
- Liability protection: MSP is immune from civil liability for disposing of firearms in compliance with this section.
- Citation: Amends MCL 28.434.
Who is affected
- Michigan State Police: must destroy forfeited firearms and ensure full destruction of all components; may need to contract with scrap processors or use in‑house methods.
- Municipalities and local law enforcement: firearms turned over to MSP under forfeiture rules will be destroyed rather than sold by the state. (Note: earlier bill versions and companion bills considered restrictions on local agencies’ ability to sell or trade seized firearms; HB 6145, as enacted, amends only MCL 28.434.)
- Organizations conducting gun buybacks that transfer collected guns to MSP will have those firearms destroyed.
- Parties concerned with public safety and traceability (advocates, some law enforcement groups, firearm rights organizations).
Context and fiscal impact
- Background: In 2023 MSP transferred large numbers of guns to private processors that destroyed receivers but sold other parts; this drew concern about facilitating ghost‑gun creation. MSP paused that practice and moved to full destruction at a scrap processor.
- Fiscal impact: Legislative analyses indicated no state fiscal impact. Earlier analyses noted potential local revenue effects if local resale options were restricted; the enacted change requires destruction by MSP of forfeited firearms and codifies MSP’s full-destruction practice.
Limitations / related measures
- HB 6145 addresses disposal by MSP under MCL 28.434. Companion bills (HB 6144, HB 6146) addressed related statutes (e.g., buyback transfers, penal code forfeiture) and local agency resale provisions; readers should consult those bills/acts for broader changes.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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