BAY CITY -- A local judge says Michigan's ban on stun guns is unconstitutional.

It's a legal debate that started in Bay City but will most likely have to be decided by a higher court.

Forty-one year old Dean Yanna had a stun gun on his belt while he worked at the Old Town Party Store in Bay City.

Someone tipped off police.

Yanna was arrested and received weapons charges, a four-year felony.

This week, Bay County Judge Joseph Sheeran dismissed those weapons charges saying the Michigan law is unconstitutional because it bans stun guns rather than regulating them.

Yanna's defense attorney Ken Malkin says, "The individual who was working with my client had a firearm and that was constitutionally protected, while a less lethal stun gun is not apparently, theoretically at that time constitutionally protected. I agree that it should have been."

Michigan is one of seven states that outlaws stun guns. Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin do not allow them.

The defense attorney says the 2nd Amendment is talking about the right to bear arms, not just firearms.

"If they have a right to bear a firearm, why shouldn't they have a right to bear a less lethal alternative to a firearm to protect themselves?" asks Malkin.

The defense attorney says Michigan's Constitution is broader than the U.S. Constitution that protects the right to bear arms.

The prosecution says it will appeal this decision.

In addition to stun guns, Michigan also outlaws the use of double-edged knives, mace, and brass knuckles.

A Bay City judge has ruled that a Michigan stun gun law is unconstitutional.

According to the Associated Press, Bay County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Sheeran feels that the state’s law prohibiting residents to carry stun guns is unconstitutional.

The Bay City Times reports that 41 year old Dean S. Yanna had the device on his belt for protection while working at the Old Town Party Store when someone noticed the weapon, and called police.  The report states, the man was then charged for carrying a “device or weapon that delivers electrical currents, impulses, waves or beams.”

Judge Sheeran says this law violates the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.

What do you think? Should it be illegal to carry stun guns?