LIVINGSTON COUNTY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Michigan concealed-pistol license holder says a Livingston County sheriff’s deputy confiscated his handgun during a traffic stop because it didn’t show up in a state database.

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There was just one problem, according to his newly filed federal lawsuit: Michigan law doesn’t make a missing database entry a crime.

Andrew Kilbourn of Taylor filed a civil-rights lawsuit Sept. 30 in U.S. District Court against Livingston County, Deputy Alexander Kotsonas and an unidentified supervisory deputy. He alleges violations of his Second, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, along with a Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint.

A Traffic Stop Turns Into a Gun Dispute

According to the complaint, Kotsonas stopped Kilbourn on northbound US-23 near Hyne Road in Brighton Township on Aug. 25. Kilbourn had a Heckler & Koch VP9 pistol holstered on the passenger seat in plain view and told the deputy he had a concealed pistol license.

The lawsuit alleges Kotsonas reached through the passenger window without permission, removed the pistol, unloaded it and ran its serial number through the Law Enforcement Information Network (LEIN). The search reportedly returned no matching record.

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And that’s where a routine traffic stop turned into a debate over Michigan gun law.

Kilbourn alleges he was placed in the back of a patrol vehicle while Kotsonas consulted a supervisor. The deputy then allegedly told Kilbourn the gun would be seized until he could “register” it and provide proof of ownership. The lawsuit says Kotsonas also warned Kilbourn he could be arrested for a felony carrying up to five years behind bars.

Kilbourn received citations for careless driving and improper plate display. He received no gun-related citation. The Sheriff’s Department nevertheless kept the pistol and 18 rounds of ammunition, according to the complaint, while its property record labeled the weapon an “UNREGISTERED FIREARM.”

The lawsuit states that Kotsonas gave Kilbourn “no property receipt, no inventory, and no written notice stating a lawful basis for the seizure, deprivation, and/or continued retention of his property.”

The Lawsuit Says There Is No Michigan Gun ‘Registration’ Requirement

The complaint contends Michigan does not make possession of a pistol illegal merely because it doesn’t appear in the state pistol-entry database. It says Kilbourn bought the gun from a firearms dealer about four years earlier and mailed the required sales record to the Taylor Police Department. Under Michigan law, the lawsuit says, database entry is the government’s responsibility.

Now the County Has a Federal Lawsuit Instead

Kilbourn says the gun still hasn’t been returned. He is asking a federal judge to order the pistol, magazine and ammunition returned, declare that a missing database entry does not provide probable cause to seize an otherwise lawfully possessed firearm, award damages and attorney fees, and order Livingston County to turn over records he claims were improperly withheld under FOIA.