Prohibited from purchasing handgun?

J

jaycaru

Inactive
Ok, this one should be interesting. Over thirteen years ago, I was young and stupid and got into some trouble with the law. I pled guilty to theft by deception in the third degree in New Jersey. I was given probation which was completed in 1999. Well, now I have a dilemma because I'm a little unsure of what to put on the 4473 form. I now live in Florida.

The Exception 1 to Important Notice 6 on the form 4473 states:

A person who has been convicted of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned the person for more than one year, or who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, is NOT prohibited from purchasing, receiving, or possessing a firearm if: (1) under the law where the conviction occurred, the person has been pardoned, the conviction has been expunged or set aside, or the person has had civil rights (the right to vote, sit on a jury, and hold public office) restored AND (2) the person is not prohibited by the law where the conviction occurred from receiving or possessing firearms. Persons subject to this exception should answer "no" to 12 C. or 12i, as applicable.

Now, my civil rights in New Jersey were restored once my probation was finished. As for part that says, "the person is not prohibited by the law where the conviction occurred from receiving or possessing firearms.", that's where it gets sticky.

It says in this NRA summary here:

http://www.nraila.org/statelawpdfs/NJSL.pdf

No Permit to Purchase or FID will be issued to any:

Person who has been convicted of a crime.
Click to expand...

But further down it states:

No person may possess, control, own, or purchase any firearm if he has:

Been convicted of aggravated assault, arson, burglary, escape, extortion, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault; bias intimidation or endangering the welfare of a child; or any weapons offense; or any domestic violence offense including crime such as harassment, stalking or criminal restraint.
Click to expand...

I obviously don't fit that category, so while I may not be able to obtain "permit to purchase" in New Jersey, it doesn't appear that I am prohibited from owning a firearm.

Question is, how does that tie into Florida and would I be able to answer NO to question 12c based upon this?

And please, if you don't know, don't hit me with the "Ask a lawyer" response.

Thanks
 
try a phone call to NJ probation

You might try a phone call to the probation people in NJ. I'm sure they have dealt with this before. This as you know is serious stuff and you don't want to Casie yourself grief. You might also consider asking the gun shop to run an NCIC check.

But above all you should not rely on a posting from the Internet to be your defence if you end up in court.
 
Believe me, I don't plan on making any major decisions without talking to an attorney. I was kind of hoping somebody had some experience in dealing with some of it.

The comment about running an NCIC check is pretty interesting. Do you think a local dealer would run it just for me to see what comes up?
 
maybe if you know the owner

if you are not asking him to drop everything and spend time doing an NCIC check for you he will do it in hopes of a sale. Most of the shop owners welcome actually buyers.
 
Do you think a local dealer would run it just for me to see what comes up?
Click to expand...
This question come up a lot, and I dont recall anyone ever coming back and saying if they were successful in getting a dealer to do it for them, and I've never tried myself, so I dont know.That said, I really dont see why most dealers wouldnt.If I owned a shop, and someone was interested in possibly buying a gun from me, and the only thing stopping him was not knowing whether he was allowed to or notm I'd run it, becasue if he comes back clean, I probly just sold a gun and made some money.If he doesnt, all it cost me was a couple minutes of my time.If I refuse to check, I guarentee I wont be selling a him a gun, so any smart person making a living off selling guns would be kinda dumb to not take a couple minutes to try and make a sale IMHO.I would certainly ask around at some local shops.The worst that can happen, is they all say no.No harm done.
 
In Virginia the state forms are serial numbered and accountable, and you need to fill one out before the call.

In most other places I have checked you cannot just call in to see what the result will be.

Some PDs will provide you with a copy of a criminal check. often for a fee.

Either pay an attorney to check things out, or try and make a purchase.
 
I would suggest the first thing to do is get on paper from the court in NJ

what the actual charge and such of the crime was... and etc. This then needs to be checked against the current criminal codes in N.J. Hopefully it was not a felony... if it was then you've got a little bit of a road to go down with lawyers and courts to get the conviction expunged.... which can be done with a good lawyer and the right amount of money if you enough time has passed and you have stayed out of trouble.

But don't assume the conviction was a felony... no matter what anybody tells you... on the internet or even a lawyer... or even a judge... the only way to know for sure is the court records, criminal code number compaired to current criminal codes in the state of new jersey....

The most important word above is CURRENT.

There is a reason I say it this way.... in 1978 I was convicted of a crime that can carry a penalty of more than one year in jail and etc... at that time it was a felony and still is by the standards of all the internet lawyers... real lawyers ... and even a judge. But according to the state of S.C. it is now a misdomenor.... Seems the only folks who could figure it out was the clerk at S.L.E.D. who does the processing of permits here in S.C. and the Clerk of the court who I later had to contact and have track down the records for my Florida Permit.

The lesson I learned was "you might not be as bad as you think."
 
You can pay the attorney now or later. If you attempt a purchase and are identified as a felon who falsified the 4473 and is attempting to purchase to purchase a firearm then you will have much bigger bucks to pay. NJ statutes are weird, and their classifications are somewhat unique, so pay someone who knows to figure it out. They might even be able to tell you for free.
 
I concur with the advice above. You must get a lawyer. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and definitely do NOT try to buy a gun until you've had advice from a competent attorney. You do NOT want to end up with a federal charge.
 
The lesson I learned was "you might not be as bad as you think."
Click to expand...

I'd bet that the clerk at SLED has a greater chance of being a dumbass than the lawyers and judges that you mentioned. I don't believe the prohibitions against firearms ownership for felons say anything about whether the felony in question is now a misdemeanor.
 
I'm an attorney and have a fair amount of experience with firearms issues both as a prosecutor and as a defense counsel. To answer this question, I would have to research the statutes involved (as they read now and as they read at time of conviction), the relevant case law, any administrative rulings that apply, as well as any attorney general opinions on point.
This would take time to do it right and time for an attorney is money.
This is simply not the kind of question you should ask on the internet and it is not the kind of question where you can rely on what somebody else tells you as regards their "experience" with the issue.
And no, I won't venture an opinion on the merits and no I'm not looking for more business.
Hire a good attorney with experience in this area and get the correct and legal answer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top