Application for a concealed pistol license (CPL) after restoration of firearm rights under MCL 28.424; MCL 28.425b(7)(f); MCL 28.426

Holding that the plain language of MCL 28.425b(7)(f) prohibits issuing a CPL to a convicted felon, and that neither MCL 28.424 nor 28.426 alter this, the court affirmed the circuit court’s order affirming defendant-county clerk’s denial of plaintiff’s application for a CPL. He previously successfully petitioned the circuit court to restore his firearm rights under MCL 28.424. He argued that this included the right to obtain a CPL. The court disagreed. MCL 28.425b(7)(f) states that the county clerk shall issue a CPL if the clerk determines certain conditions exist, including “the applicant has never been convicted of a felony in this state . . . .” Given that plaintiff did not dispute he was previously convicted of a felony, he was disqualified from obtaining a CPL. While he relied on language in the CPL application, the court concluded that regardless “whether the application asks about adult felony convictions, MCL 28.425b(7)(f) expressly forbids a convicted felon from obtaining” a CPL. It also rejected his argument that “interpreting MCL 28.425b(7)(f) as prohibiting any person convicted of a felony from obtaining” a CPL would render MCL 28.424 and 28.426 nugatory. As to the former, plaintiff failed to make any “meaningful argument why denying a convicted felon the right to obtain” a CPL would render it nugatory. Due to the restoration of his rights under MCL 28.424, he now enjoyed “a number of rights that he had previously lost, such as the right to own and possess a firearm. The fact that MCL 28.425b(7)(f) prohibits him from obtaining a [CPL] does not mean that MCL 28.424 is meaningless to plaintiff.” The court also noted that “MCL 28.424 does not expressly state that the right to obtain a [CPL] is restored,” and MCL 28.425b(7)(f) does not make an exception for applicants who “have had their firearm rights restored.” As to MCL 28.426, it “provides additional restrictions on” issuing a CPL. And because MCL 28.425b(7)(f) prohibited plaintiff from obtaining a CPL, whether MCL 28.426 applied to him was not important to determining whether he was entitled to receive a CPL. Given that he admitted he was convicted of two felonies, and he did not assert they had “been set aside, expunged, or otherwise nullified[,]” defendant correctly denied him a CPL.