Photo by Lavi Perchik on Unsplash

Regardless of your position on owning firearms, if you have a child, you should be aware of new legislation that took effect in 2024 which may have an impact on you.  There are possible criminal repercussion's and potential serious family law problems that could result as an unintentional violation of this new law.

What Is The New Legislation And How Could It Impact Me?

It could have a serious impact on you if you, your child's other parent, anyone in either of your families' is a gun owner or even parents of your children's friends. The legislation states in essence that you must have your firearm properly locked and stored any time there is a minor in the presence of your home or vehicle.  First this means that anytime the child is in your home, you must have the guns stored and locked.  It is also true if you have the weapon with you in your vehicle.  Failure to do so could result in you being charged with a crime and that is not the end of it.

It also means, for example, that if you allow your brother to pick-up your child and he does not have the gun properly stored there could be a series of very negative repercussions.  First, your brother could be charged with a crime.  Then because your child was in the car with him at the time, most likely a report will be made to Child Protective Services (CPS) because there was a minor involved in a police incident.

CPS will then have to investigate the incident which includes an interview with the child, the other parent, the gun owner and possible others.  Most likely CPS will not move forward with any serious action against you or otherwise limit your contact with the child, unless there was an egregious incident that resulted due to the unlocked and/or improperly stored weapon.  However, that does not mean that the child's other parent will not file motions in the family court.  The types of motions could range from requests for court orders restricting your child from being around that relative or relative's home, to changes in parenting time or custody.  

The take away from this blog is that if you have a child and own firearms, not only must you lock up your weapons and store them as required by law at all times, in addition, anytime you allow your child to go to a relative or neighbor's house or ride in someone else's vehicle, it would be wise to politely inquire if they own firearms and advise them of this law so that they do not accidentally run afoul of the law and unintentionally cause you some potential serious problems with custody or parenting time.

This blog is only meant to generally address and advise of this new development in Michigan family law, If you have any questions regarding this blog, divorce, custody, parenting time or any other family law issue in Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer or Livingston Counties, please do not hesitate to contact us to schedule a consultation by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123.