Can You Buy a Gun in Michigan at 18? Rifles, Handguns, Licensing

Yes, you can buy a gun in Michigan at 18, but what you can buy depends on where you shop. An 18-year-old can walk into a licensed dealer and buy a rifle or shotgun after passing a background check. Handguns are off-limits at any licensed dealer until age 21 under federal law, but Michigan allows 18-year-olds to buy a handgun through a private sale if they first get a state License to Purchase.¹

Rifles and Shotguns at 18

Federal law lets licensed firearms dealers sell rifles and shotguns to anyone 18 or older.² Michigan separately prohibits selling a firearm over 26 inches in overall length to anyone under 18, so the state floor matches the federal one for long guns. At a dealer, you show valid photo ID, fill out ATF Form 4473, and clear a background check.³

Private sales work too, but there’s an added step. Michigan’s Public Act 19 of 2023 expanded the state’s license-to-purchase requirement so it now covers all firearms acquired through private transactions, not just pistols.⁴ If you’re buying a rifle from a neighbor, a relative, or someone at a gun show, you need a License to Purchase before the transfer happens.

Handguns at 18

Federal law prohibits any licensed dealer from selling a handgun or handgun ammunition to someone under 21.² No dealer in Michigan can get around that.

Private sales are different. Federal law only bars unlicensed sellers from transferring a handgun to someone under 18, which leaves 18-year-olds free to buy from a private party.¹ In Michigan, you still need a License to Purchase first.

One definition matters here. Michigan treats any firearm with an overall length of 26 inches or less as a “pistol,” which can include some firearms that don’t look like a traditional handgun. If it measures 26 inches or under, pistol rules apply.

How to Get a License to Purchase

The License to Purchase is the state’s background-check mechanism for private firearm transactions. You need one for any private sale unless you hold a valid Concealed Pistol License, and the CPL requires being 21.⁵ At 18, the License to Purchase is your path.

Go to your local law enforcement agency, usually your city or township police department or the county sheriff’s office. Bring a valid Michigan driver’s license or state ID. You fill out application form RI-10A under oath, answering questions about felony convictions, domestic violence history, mental health adjudications, and disqualifying court orders. If the background check clears, the agency issues the license. It’s valid for 30 days, so you have a month to complete the purchase before you have to apply again.⁵

Completing the Private Sale

Once your license is in hand, the seller should verify it before the transfer. The transaction uses a three-part form from the Michigan State Police: one copy for the buyer, one for the seller, and one marked “Licensing Authority Copy.”⁶

For pistol sales, the seller, not the buyer, is responsible for returning the Licensing Authority Copy to local law enforcement within 10 days. The seller can hand-deliver it or send it by first-class or certified mail. Failing to return the form is a civil infraction with a fine up to $250.⁷ The duty is on the seller, but confirming the form was filed is in your interest, since the returned copy is what registers the firearm.

Expect a Possible Delay on Your Background Check

Even for a long gun purchase at a licensed dealer, buyers under 21 go through a deeper background check than older customers. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in 2022, requires the FBI’s NICS examiners to contact state juvenile justice agencies, mental health repositories, and local law enforcement for records that might not appear in the national databases.⁸

If the standard check doesn’t come back clean within three business days, examiners get up to 10 business days total to investigate.⁸ Most purchases still clear quickly. If you have any juvenile history, plan for the possibility of a delay rather than a same-day sale.

Don’t Use a Straw Buyer

Because dealers can’t sell handguns to anyone under 21, some 18-year-olds are tempted to have an older friend or family member buy a handgun for them. That’s a straw purchase, and federal law treats it as a standalone felony. Under 18 U.S.C. § 932 and § 933, a straw purchase carries up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If the firearm is used in a violent felony, drug trafficking, or terrorism, the maximum rises to 25 years.⁹ Both the buyer and the recipient can be charged.

Who Can’t Own a Firearm in Michigan

Age aside, Michigan law bars certain people from possessing any firearm. The disqualifiers most relevant to a young buyer:

Felony conviction. A standard felony blocks firearm possession until three years after the full sentence is complete, including fines, probation, and parole. “Specified felonies,” generally more serious offenses, carry a five-year waiting period and require a court order restoring firearm rights.¹⁰
Misdemeanor domestic violence conviction. An eight-year prohibition on firearms and ammunition, counted from the completion of fines, jail time, and probation.¹⁰
Mental health adjudication. A person judged legally incapacitated or involuntarily committed cannot possess firearms unless a court restores legal capacity.
Protection orders. A personal protection order or an Extreme Risk Protection Order under Act 38 of 2023 requires surrender of firearms for the duration of the order.¹¹

Convictions that have been expunged, set aside, or pardoned generally don’t trigger these prohibitions, unless the order specifically preserves the firearm ban.¹⁰

Storing Your Firearm

Michigan requires anyone leaving a firearm unattended on property they control to store it safely if they know or should know a minor might be present. You can lock it in a container designed for firearm storage, or keep it unloaded with a trigger lock, cable lock, or similar device. The same rules apply when you bring a firearm onto someone else’s property where minors may be present, with the added option of locking it in your vehicle before you go inside.¹²

If a minor accesses an improperly stored firearm, the owner faces a misdemeanor with up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. The charge escalates to a felony if the minor uses the firearm to injure someone, and the penalty climbs further if the minor causes a death.¹²

Traveling Out of State

If you drive your firearm across state lines, 18 U.S.C. § 926A gives you a safe harbor: you can transport a firearm through any state as long as you can legally possess it at both your origin and your destination. The firearm must be unloaded and kept out of reach of the passenger compartment. If your vehicle has no separate trunk, the firearm and ammunition must be in a locked container, and the glove compartment and center console don’t qualify.¹³

This covers transport only, not carry or use at your destination. And because Michigan’s Concealed Pistol License requires age 21, an 18-year-old traveling with a handgun will be relying on the federal transport rule rather than any state reciprocity.

1
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Minimum Age for Gun Sales and Transfers
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record Revisions
4
Michigan Legislature. House Bill 4138 of 2023 (Public Act 19 of 2023)
5
Bloomfield Township. Bloomfield Township – Gun Registration
6
City of Ann Arbor. Firearm Permits and Licenses
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 28.422a
8
Federal Bureau of Investigation. NICS Enhanced Background Checks for Under-21 Gun Buyers Showing Results
9
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.224f
11
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 38 of 2023 – Extreme Risk Protection Order Act
12
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 28.429
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms