I've lived in Michigan for 66 years. They used to disguise their registration process by calling it a Safety Inspection. You would have to bring your gun to the PD, and they would go through the motions of checking to make sure it was functioning properly. But we knew better, as to what they were really doing.

It became more evident, when the so-called inspections were being performed by inexperienced clerks, who would simply look at it, measure it, and write down the manufacture, model, serial number, etc. They never opened the cylinder, or slide, or checked the trigger, or safety. Then some PD's, demanded the weapon be handed to them, with the action open, and they would never close it. Some would disable it with a ty rap. I always asked how they can perform a Safety Check, when the weapon is disabled in that way. I never got an answer.

Now they admit they register it.

Only the state is authorized to register pistols/revolvers. However, they don't allow you to send the paper work directly to the state. Instead, you have to take it to your local PD, and they it to the state. But, before they do, the locals record all the registration info into their computers, effectively performing an illegal registration at their level as well!

The system is a total quagmire. When I inquired with the Macomb County Sheriff, as to what weapons they showed currently registered to me, they printed out a list of 125, just for the year of 2015! Why so many? Because they never update their records once the handgun is sold, and re-registered by someone else. I hesitate to think how many are listed as registered to me at the state level, in my lifetime! They'd probably dispatch DHS to water-board me!