The “Crime” of Exercising One’s Right to Carry
Should a law-abiding father, husband and military serviceman go to jail for carrying a gun without government permission?
By: Brenden Boudreau, Director of Field Operations
It is a five-year felony to carry a concealed pistol, or possess in a vehicle, without a Concealed Pistol License in the State of Michigan, a crime that is only a misdemeanor in the anti-gun dystopia California.
For what is essentially a victimless crime, countless gun owners in Michigan are getting the book thrown at them every year while violent crimes are punished less severely.
The National Foundation for Gun Rights believes this is an injustice, and took the opportunity to assist in the legal defense of Marine Corps Lance Corporal Joe Morrison of Munith, MI — who found himself facing jail time and a dishonorable discharge after accidentally running afoul of this draconian law in the summer of 2019.
NFGR Helps Limit Damage Done by Draconian Gun Control Law
“What’s going to happen to my family?”
The thought raced through Joe Morrison’s mind as the Michigan State Trooper put him in handcuffs.
“You’re under arrest for illegal possession of a pistol in a vehicle,” said the Trooper.
Michigan state law outrageously turns law-abiding citizens into criminals for nothing more than exercising their right to carry without first obtaining a government permit.
It doesn’t matter that the Second Amendment guarantees this right. Joe was headed for a costly legal battle, where he could end up in jail, losing his gun rights as well as his military career.
In July 2019, Joe and his father-in-law were in Metro Detroit for work when their truck broke down and they were forced to call a tow-truck. While they were waiting for help, a Michigan State Trooper approached. Joe was openly carrying his pistol for self-defense at the time. Sitting on the seat of the truck with the door open, the State Trooper asked Joe if he had a CPL.
If Joe had not been sitting on the seat of the truck, no charges would have been filed as no CPL is required for open carry in Michigan. But since he was technically in the confines of the truck, he was carrying a pistol in a vehicle without a CPL. Not having a CPL (as he could not afford the $115 fee and cost of training), he was arrested on the spot.
Joe was able to obtain solid legal representation from Michigan Second Amendment Attorney Jim Makowski, with the help of the National Foundation for Gun Rights which covered half of his legal fees.
Thankfully, Makowski worked out a plea deal for Joe that brought the penalty down to a misdemeanor with no time served, a $75 fine, and Joe was forced to surrender his pistol. This doesn’t include the hundreds of dollars in lost wages from having to make multiple court appearances.
But it’s a small price to pay compared to receiving a life-shattering felony conviction that would have forced this young husband and father to spend time in jail while destroying his five-year military career.
“Wait, that’s illegal?”
During the hearing, the Judge overseeing the case reportedly exclaimed when reading the charges, “Wait, that’s illegal?”
The victimless crime of carrying a pistol in a vehicle without permit, for which Joe was arrested, is already legal in some form in more than half the nation, and there are 15 Constitutional Carry states which require no permit, period, to carry a pistol.
This is inherently the problem with gun control in not just Michigan, but across the country. These laws sit as a trap for otherwise law-abiding gun owners to unknowingly run afoul of, with potentially life-altering consequences for even the smallest of infractions.
Joe called this whole ordeal an “eye-opening experience” about just how bad Michigan’s gun laws are and helped him appreciate the work of the National Foundation for Gun Rights fighting to change it.
This is how absurd handgun permit laws really are, as otherwise law-abiding gun owners are being oppressed while practicing a fundamental right. No gun owner should face jail time, costly legal battles, or risk losing their careers for simply practicing their right to keep and bear arms.
Thankfully, through the efforts of the National Association for Gun Rights, 15 states have repealed the penalties for carrying a handgun without a permit by passing Constitutional Carry laws. Here’s hoping more states join this trend in the future.
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