Can You Wear a Mask While Carrying?

There’s a popular meme going around on the internet claiming that it is a crime to wear a mask while carrying a firearm.

Of course, with Governor Whitmer mandating the wearing of masks while in public in response to COVID-19, this certainly would be of great concern for Michigan gun owners.

Now while this is the case in Illinois and California, this is not true of Michigan.

According to MCL 750.396, “A person who intentionally conceals his or her identity by wearing a mask or other device covering his or her face for the purpose of facilitating the commission of a crime is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than 93 days or a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.”

So it is only in the commission of a crime that a person is guilty of a misdemeanor while wearing a mask to conceal his or her identity.

A person who is lawfully carrying a firearm while wearing a mask is not committing a crime in Michigan.

Regardless of the debate surrounding the effectiveness of wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or if the Governor should even have that power, I thought it necessary to make sure you know fact from fiction.

And while it wouldn’t have been terribly surprising if the meme was true, it’s important for gun owners to be able to carry their sidearm without fear of prosecution for following the Governor’s Executive Order.

And, truth be told, while it is illegal in California and Illinois to wear a mask while carrying, there have been no reported arrests for carrying while wearing a mask in either state during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Whenever you see a meme floating around on social media that is making a claim about your state’s gun laws and there are no sources linked to it, I highly recommend checking state law or emailing us here at GLGR to help you discern what is true.

Michigan’s gun laws are bad enough already, so the last thing we need is bad information floating around that will cause even more confusion and discourage gun owners from practicing their Second Amendment rights.

For Freedom,