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Speaker Pro-Tem Lee Chatfield, seated, submits legislation to the enrolling clerk that will eliminate the existing mandate requiring pistols to be registered with the state. Reps. Tom Barrett and Gary Glenn, two of the co-sponsors of the bill, join him. (Photo and caption courtesy, Michigan House of Representatives)

LANSING, MI -- Michiganders would no longer have to register pistols with the state under a bill introduced last week by Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering.

Under current law, a person cannot purchase, carry, possess, or transport a pistol in Michigan without first having obtained a license for it. The person then turns the license back in to authorities, officially registering the pistol.

Chatfield's house bill 4554 would make that last step optional, and eliminate the $250 fine for not registering. It would also allow people who have already registered to request the Michigan State Police remove their information from the registry.

"There is no need for state government to maintain an exhaustive list of law-abiding citizens who legally purchase pistols," Chatfield said in a press release.

He said Michigan was one of only six states to require registration right now, and it did little to fight crime.

"Criminals don't register handguns they misuse for wrong, so what we end up with is a list that intrudes on the civil liberties of honest gun owners exercising their constitutional right to defend their families," Chatfield said.

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary. It would need to pass the full House, full Senate and be approved by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.

Note: This story has been updated to clarify that the bill affects the registration, not licensure process.