I'm planning to take a trip to Mackinaw in a few weeks and would like to be able to take my truck gun with me and wanted to make sure there weren't any pitfalls I might run into. I've got an Indiana carry permit so I'm covered in Michigan with the reciprocity agreement between the two states. But my truck gun is a Bulgarian AK-74M usually kept in a soft case under the rear seats of my truck kept chamber empty, no mag in but with mags in the case. I know Michigan is pretty gun friendly but are there any local issues I might run into? Planning on traveling up I-69 around Lansing to 127. Or up US 31 if I decide to take the scenic route.

Thanks in advance for any help people can provide.

Michigan has state preemption of firearms laws. No local jurisdiction can make stricter firearms laws than the state laws.

I don't have time to cite the statutes right now regarding firearms in vehicles. To help us help you, what's the OAL and barrel length of your AK?

OAL is 37", barrel is 16.25 so nothing NFA. Good to know about the preemption law.

Your home state license covers you when carrying a pistol in Michigan, make sure you're familiar with our "Pistol Free Zones" (areas where you generally can't carry concealed like bars, stadiums &arenas, schools & daycares, hospitals, etc.)

Your truck gun isn't a pistol and cant be carried as one under the Michigan CPL law, so if it's in your vehicle make sure it is always unloaded (empty chamber and no loaded magazines inserted, its OK to have loaded magazine in the same case as long as they are not inserted into the gun) and cased. The relevant statute is below:

lukef, yes, I should have made that clear in my original post, only intending to be carrying my usual M&P on my Indiana license. Certainly not planning to be carrying around a loaded rifle. It will be cased, unloaded and chamber flagged, with magazines stored in the external pouches of the same case. Thanks for the quick rundown of no-carry areas, I was actually just reviewing those and refreshing my memory on handgunlaw.us.

All rifles and shotguns must be unloaded, this includes any detachable magazines.

The ammo must be kept separate from the long gun.

The long gun must be either:

1. Disassembled

2. In an enclosed case or

3. Stored in the trunk.

If you have an Indiana Concealed Carry License you may carry in MI like any other CCW license holder. Learn the prohibited areas so as not to violate our restrictions.

So if I understand what you're saying I would be violating MI law if I were to have loaded magazines in the vehicle with an unloaded and cased long gun even if said magazines were in a separate container? Just out of curiosity does nobody pre-load their mags at home before going to the range in MI?

No, that's absolutely not the case.  You can carry your truck gun with nearby loaded magazines, the loaded magazines and unloaded rifle can be in the same container, you just can't have a loaded magazine inserted into the rifle while driving without running afoul of MCL 750.227d.  That law, reprinted below, requires firearms other than pistols to always be transported unloaded and in a state not readily available to occupants of the vehicle (either cased, taken down, in the trunk, or in some other space not accessible to the occupants of the vehicle).  The Michigan State Police published a Legal Update bulletin to Michigan LEOs, and it specifically reminds officers that loaded magazines may legally be transported in the same case as unloaded rifles and shotguns.


















  (a) A firearm, other than a pistol, unless the firearm is unloaded and is 1 or more of the following:






  (i) Taken down.






  (ii) Enclosed in a case.






  (iii) Carried in the trunk of the vehicle.






  (iv) Inaccessible from the interior of the vehicle.

  (i) Taken down.






  (ii) Enclosed in a case.






  (iii) Carried in the trunk of the vehicle.






  (iv) Inaccessible from the interior of the vehicle.







Interesting fact:  MCL 750.227c outlaws the transport of loaded firearms other than pistols inside vehicles in general (sailboats, aircraft, motorboats, or any "vehicle propelled by mechanical means"), not just land vehicles like MCL 750.227d

















 

lukef, thank you very much for the help. My family has a cabin between Carp Lake and Levering along US 31 so I'm pretty familiar with the area. This is just the first time travelling through with my truck gun as I didn't have a dedicated one before and wanted to make sure I had my bases covered.