Michigan Passes Law to Mandate Destruction of Valuable Assets

AmmoLand ^ | January 29, 2025 | Dean Weingarten

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On January 22, 2025, Democratic Governor Whitmer of Michigan signed HB No. 6145 into law as part of a package of bills. HB No. 6145 mandates the state destroy valuable assets as an ideological statement. The bill requires all parts of firearms that come into possession of the Michigan State Police to be destroyed instead of being sold and the money used for the public good. From enrolled House Bill No. 6145:

 Sec. 14. ( 1) Subject to sections 5g and 14a, all pistols, weapons, or devices carried or possessed contrary to this act are declared forfeited to this state, and must be turned over to the director of the department of state police or the director’s designated representative, for disposal under this section.

(2) The director of the department of state police shall dispose of firearms under this section by destroying them. The director shall ensure that all parts of a firearm disposed of under this section are destroyed.

Control of the House flipped from Democratic control to Republican control on November 5, 2024. On December 12, 2024, House Bill No. 6145 was introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives. The bill was passed with partisan votes in the lame-duck session in the House. The new office holders would not take office until January 1, 2025. The Senate passed the bill on December 20, 2024. Governor Whitmer signed HB No. 6145 into law on January 22, 2025. The law will go into effect on April 2, 2025.  From fox2detroit.com:

The New York Times reported in 2023 that buyback programs often don’t lead to the complete firearm being destroyed.

Instead, a single piece that includes the gun’s serial number is disposed of before the company that takes them in sells the rest of

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bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is a piece of legislation that declares a party is guilty of a crime . Bills of attainder allow the government to punish a party for a perceived crime without first going through the trial process.

In the United States, bills of attainder are unconstitutional as stated in Article 1 Section 9 and Article 1 Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution . Article 9 prohibits federal bills of attainder and Article 10 prohibits bills of attainder by the states. The constitutional ban on bills of attainder works to uphold separation of powers principles by preventing Congress from assuming the functions of the judicial branch.

Courts have adopted a three-part test to determine if a law functions as a bill of attainder:

The law inflicts punishment.
The law targets specific named or identifiable individuals or groups.
Those individuals or groups would otherwise have judicial protections.
In Nixon v. Adm’r of General Services , the court determined that punishment for the purposes of bills of attainder will determined by considering:

Whether the statute would historically be viewed as punitive.
Whether the statute, viewed in terms of burdens and severity, can reasonably be said to further non-punitive purposes.
Was that a congressional intent for the statute to further punitive goals.