The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us)


STATE OF MICHIGAN

FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Opinion No. 5569

September 26, 1979

PISTOLS:

Authority of railroad conductors to carry

CONCEALED WEAPONS:

Authority of railroad conductors to carry

RAILROADS:

Authority of railroad conductors to carry concealed weapons.

Railroad conductors may not carry concealed weapons while on duty unless licensed to do so.

Honorable Richard Fitzpatrick

State Representative

State Capitol

Lansing, Michigan 48901

You have requested my opinion on whether railroad conductors have the authority to carry weapons while on duty. At issue is whether railroad conductors are exempt from the requirements of the concealed weapons licensing law, 1927 PA 372; MCLA 28.426; MSA 28.93 and The Michigan Penal Code, 1931 PA 328, Sec. 227; MCLA 750.227; MSA 28.424. The law provides an exemption from the licensing requirements for a person who sells, purchases, possesses, or carries certain weapons or is a:

'. . . peace officer of a duly authorized police agency of the United States or of the state or any subdivision thereof, who is regularly employed and paid by the United States or the state or such subdivision, . . .' 1976 PA 102, MCLA 28.432a; MSA 28.98(1).

Railroad conductors are invested by statute with certain powers of peace officers:

'[A] conductor . . . is . . . empowered to arrest [an unruly] passenger and remove him to the baggage car, or some safe and secure place . . . [F]or this purpose, railroad conductors, while in charge of trains, are hereby invested with the powers of sheriffs and constables.' 1873 PA 198, Sec. 9; MCLA 466.9; MSA 22.268.

To the same effect is the section prescribing the penalties imposed upon and the procedures for dealing with a disorderly passenger:

'Railroad conductors are hereby invested with the powers of sheriffs and constables in regard to offenses under this section occurring upon trains or cars in their charge, and are empowered to arrest and detain any person violating any of its provisions until the car or train shall arrive at some usual stopping place, . . .' MCLA 466.10; MSA 22.269.

Railroad conductors, however, are not peace officers as contemplated by 1976 PA 102, supra, which requires that a peace officer, to be exempt from concealed weapons licensing requirements, must be a member of 'a duly authorized police agency of the United States or of the state or any subdivision thereof, who is regularly employed and paid by the United States or the state of such subdivision.' Railroad conductors are not members of any state or federal police agency nor are they employed or paid by a governmental unit.

It is therefore my opinion that railroad conductors are subject to the concealed weapons licensing requirements of 1927 PA 372, supra, and may not carry concealed weapons while on duty unless licensed to do so.

Frank J. Kelley

Attorney General