PPOs and Firearms in Michigan

A Michigan personal protection order (PPO) can prohibit the respondent from purchasing or possessing a firearm, but only if the judge includes that term in the order.^[1] On top of that, a federal law bars gun possession by a person subject to certain protection orders, and Michigan's licensing statutes block a concealed pistol license and, in some cases, a purchase license while a PPO is in place.^[2][4][5]

These are separate rules with separate requirements. A given PPO may trigger one, some, or all of them. This page takes them in turn.

Three different firearm rules at a glance

Rule	When it applies	Notice or a hearing first?
Firearm term in the PPO itself, MCL 600.2950(1)(e) and MCL 600.2950a	Only when the judge includes it in the order[1]	The order is enforceable when signed, including an ex parte order[7]
Federal ban, 18 USC 922(g)(8)	Order restrains conduct toward an intimate partner or child and has a credible-threat finding or an explicit prohibition on physical force[2]	Yes: issued after a hearing with actual notice and an opportunity to participate[2]
Michigan license to purchase a firearm, MCL 28.422	Person is subject to a PPO that was entered into LEIN[5]	Yes: notice and an opportunity for a hearing[5]
Concealed pistol license, MCL 28.425b	Applicant is the subject of a PPO[4]	No such condition in the statute[4]

When does a Michigan PPO itself prohibit firearms?

"Purchasing or possessing a firearm" is item (e) on the list of conduct a domestic relationship PPO may prohibit under MCL 600.2950(1).^[8] Nondomestic stalking PPOs and nondomestic sexual assault PPOs may contain the same prohibition.^[1] The full list of possible terms is covered in What a PPO can prohibit.

Because the judge chooses which terms to include, the only way to know whether a particular PPO restricts firearms is to read it. A PPO is effective and immediately enforceable anywhere in Michigan once a judge signs it, and failure to serve the respondent does not affect its validity.^[7] That is true of an ex parte order issued without advance notice. An unserved respondent who has not received notice of the PPO is given an opportunity to comply before a custodial arrest.^[9]

When a PPO does prohibit purchasing or possessing a firearm, the court clerk notifies the county clerk of the respondent's county of residence about the existence and contents of the order.^[10]

What happens if the respondent keeps or buys a gun anyway?

Purchasing or possessing a firearm is one of the listed acts that count as a PPO violation for purposes of a warrantless arrest, when the order specifically prohibits it.^[11] A respondent found guilty of criminal contempt must be jailed for not more than 93 days and may be fined not more than $500.^[12] That penalty may be imposed in addition to a penalty for another criminal offense arising from the same conduct.^[13] The arrest and hearing process is explained in Violating a PPO: arrest and criminal contempt.

The PPO statutes authorize a prohibition on purchase and possession.^[1] The extreme risk protection order act, by comparison, spells out a surrender process, with firearms turned in within 24 hours or immediately as the court directs.^[14] Practice on where and how a PPO respondent stores or transfers firearms varies by court, so a respondent who owns guns should ask the issuing court or a lawyer how to comply with the specific order.

The federal ban: 18 USC 922(g)(8)

Federal law makes it a crime to possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a court order that meets three requirements.^[2] All three must be present:

1. Hearing with notice. The order "was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate."^[2]
2. Intimate partner or child. The order restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or a child of the partner or person, or from other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child.^[2]
3. Threat finding or force prohibition. The order either includes a finding that the person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the intimate partner or child, or by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against them.^[2]

Two consequences follow from that wording. First, the federal statute speaks of an order "issued after a hearing," while an ex parte PPO is one issued without written or oral notice to the respondent.^[2][15] Second, the federal text is limited to intimate partners and their children, while a Michigan nondomestic stalking PPO can be issued against any individual regardless of relationship.^[2][16] For this purpose federal law defines an intimate partner as the person's spouse, a former spouse, a parent of the person's child, or someone who cohabits or has cohabited with the person.^[17] How the federal statute applies to a particular Michigan order, especially one that began ex parte and was later continued after a hearing, is a question for a lawyer who has read the order.

The federal penalty is often misstated. Knowingly violating 18 USC 922(g) is punishable by a fine, imprisonment for not more than 15 years, or both, under 18 USC 924(a)(8).^[3] Older materials that give a 10-year maximum are out of date.

United States v Rahimi

On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a facial Second Amendment challenge to this statute.^[6] The Court wrote: "we conclude only this: An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment."^[18] The restraining order in that case included a finding that the defendant represented a credible threat to the physical safety of the protected person, and the Court found the statute constitutional as applied to those facts.^[18]

Michigan purchase licenses and concealed pistol licenses

Michigan's licensing statutes treat a PPO as a disqualifier in two places, and the two are worded differently.

• License to purchase. A person is disqualified from obtaining a Michigan license to purchase a firearm while subject to a PPO, but only if the person received notice and an opportunity for a hearing and the order was entered into LEIN.^[5]
• Concealed pistol license (CPL). An applicant will be denied a CPL if the applicant is the subject of a PPO, and the CPL statute does not condition that on the person having had notice and an opportunity to be heard.^[4]

Every PPO is sent to a law enforcement agency for entry into LEIN immediately on issuance, without waiting for proof of service.^[19] If a CPL was suspended because of a PPO and surrendered, the county clerk must automatically reinstate it on expiration of the order and notification to the clerk, provided the license has not expired and the State Police verification is complete.^[20] Licensing after a conviction is a different subject, covered in CPL and pistol purchase after domestic violence.

Respondents who carry a firearm for work

The PPO statutes have special provisions for police and others who are armed on the job. If the petitioner knows the respondent is a police officer, sheriff or deputy, State Police member, corrections officer, federal officer who carries a firearm on duty, or a concealed-weapon licensee who must carry a weapon as a condition of employment, the petitioner must notify the court of the respondent's occupation before the PPO is issued.^[21]

For those respondents, when the PPO prohibits purchasing or possessing a firearm, the court must schedule the hearing on a motion to modify or rescind an ex parte PPO within 5 days after the motion is filed, instead of the usual 14.^[22] Notice of that hearing one day in advance is treated as sufficient.^[23] If the respondent is identified in the pleadings as a law enforcement officer, the clerk also notifies the officer's employing agency of the PPO.^[10] Career consequences are discussed in Police, military and domestic violence convictions.

For petitioners: asking for a firearm restriction

A petition has to state the relief sought and the conduct to be restrained.^[24] A petitioner who wants the order to cover firearms should say so in the petition and describe the facts that make it necessary; the court considers the testimony, documents and other evidence offered, and whether the respondent has previously committed or threatened the listed acts.^[25] See Preparing a PPO petition: a checklist.

Where the main concern is access to guns, including a risk that someone will harm himself or herself, an extreme risk protection order is a separate option. The ERPO Act does not limit a petitioner's ability to request a PPO as well.^[26]

For respondents: challenging a firearm term

A respondent may file a motion to modify or terminate an ex parte PPO within 14 days after being served or receiving actual notice; later motions need a showing of good cause.^[27][28] A motion can ask the court to end the order or to change particular terms. There is no motion fee.^[29] Until a judge changes the order, every term in it stays in force. The process is laid out in How to challenge, modify or terminate a PPO and Preparing for a PPO hearing as the respondent.

What people get wrong

"Any PPO triggers the federal gun ban." The federal statute has three requirements, including a hearing with actual notice and an intimate-partner relationship.^[2] Separately, a Michigan PPO can prohibit firearms by its own terms whether or not the federal law applies.^[1]

"The federal penalty is 10 years." The current maximum is 15 years under 18 USC 924(a)(8).^[3]

"A PPO is the same as a conviction for gun purposes." A PPO is a civil injunction.^[30] The firearm bans that follow a domestic violence conviction are different rules with different durations; see Michigan's 8-year gun ban and the federal firearm ban under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). Bond conditions that bar firearms while a criminal case is open are covered in Firearms while the case is pending.