A Detroit, MI, gun dealer should not face a misdemeanor charge for selling a firearm to an undercover law enforcement officer, who indicated it was for an underage person who didn’t have a license, the Michigan Supreme Court said in a decision released on June 16, according to Associated Press.

The court ruled that longtime Detroit gun dealer and gun-rights activist General Laney didn’t violate federal or state statutes that allow licensed 18-year-olds to buy or receive a pistol from a private party, but prohibits them from purchasing a gun from a federally licensed gun dealer.

As previously reported in Gun Week, the case was originally linked to the spate of municipal lawsuits filed against the firearms industry. The suit filed by the city of Detroit and Wayne County also included a number of local firearms retailers.

When the city and county suits were dismissed, the suits against the dealers were all dismissed, except for the one against Laney. In Laney’s case, it appeared that prosecutors wanted case law to set a standard that federal straw man law would apply rather than Michigan law. When the state Court of Appeals allowed Laney’s case to proceed in a split decision, the two dissenting judges wrote that Laney had followed state law to the letter.

In April 1999, two Wayne County sheriff’s deputies—Walter Epps and Roshunda Coming—posed as customers interested in buying a gun for unlicensed 18-year-old civilian Antonio Little, who was working with them. It was intended to be a “straw buy,” in which an individual who is legally able to purchase a firearm fills out paperwork on behalf of the individual who can’t own one.

The Supreme Court pointed out that the dealer told the undercover deputies that he couldn’t sell a gun to an 18-year-old without a license. The dealer also refused to accept payment for a firearm from Little, insisting that it had to come from one of the undercover deputies although they had indicated it was for Little.

The Supreme Court said there is no dispute that Epps bought the gun because he had a gun license, selected it and handed Laney the money to pay for it.

“Because (the dealer) complied with the plain and unambiguous language of the statute, he committed no crime,” the Supreme Court said.

The Supreme Court ruling reverses a decision handed down by the Michigan Court of Appeals, which ruled that decision should be left to a jury.

Laney, who bears the expense of defending in a long legal battle, told Gun Week that while he finally won in court, he is now faced with a daunting legal bill.

“Even when you win one,” he said, “you also lose.”

Anyone interested in contacting Laney can reach him by mail at: PO Box 07075, Detroit, MI 48207; phone: 313-923-8060.

Supreme Court Justices Maura Corrigan, Elizabeth Weaver, Clifford Taylor, Robert Young Jr. and Stephen Markman joined the lead opinion, while two justices—Michael Cavanagh and Marilyn Kelly—said the court should have heard oral arguments.