Will a CCWp show up in court records ?

[Enoy21]

Hi everyone , I've been a long time reader and studier of these forums here and I first want to thank you all for the great information you provide.

Secondly , as my first question I was hoping to get some help with.

I'm planning to get my CCW here in the near future , but have been waiting due to a civil court case coming up in June.

I've raised my daughter for the past thirteen years and my son now for the past 2yrs. A little over a year ago I picked up my first handgun for home protection and keep it locked in a case in my closet. I have trained my daughter how to properly handle a firearm with the 4 biggest rules of safety and some range time to get her somewhat comfortable with one in the event she ever needs it.

My daughters mother is wanting to go to court and try and get joint custody of her ( and without any details , the past thirteen years tells me it's not a good idea).

I know unfortunately that most of the Judges in the county I live in look unfavorably on firearms in the home if there are children there, irregardless of the responsibility of the parent.

So I'm wondering if I apply for my CCW now , would it show up on court records that I had applied for it and then bring up the gun discussion in court ? Or is it something that would not show up unless specifically requested to be looked at ?


I do not want to apply , and get to court and have the judge look unfavorably on our situation because he happens to have an anti gun view.

Thank you in advance for any input.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I'm assuming that you already have a permit to posses the gun? If so, it is what it is, it either will already come up or it won't whether you get it changed to "carry" or not.

With a decent lawyer the fact that you are a gun owner will be irrelevant.

[Yellowfin]

Which state are you in? I know a couple of good lawyers on this kind of matter but they're limited to the states in which they reside.

[Enoy21]

I'm in VA and we don't need permits to have firearms ... but I did go through the Background check when I purchased it from a local dealer.

As to a lawyer , based on my case , I'm still in debate on weather I will get one or not. At this point , I really don't think her mother has much of a chance , but before making that decision I wanted to get some information on things to watch for with firearms.


Thanks for the replies.

[Enoy21]

p.s. Yellowfin , I like the link to students for concealed carry. I live very very near VT Campus in a neighboring county.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Don't leave something as important as your children to chance. If you want them, get a lawyer.

[Enoy21]

I appreciate the sentiment , but there is a bit more to the case than first glance, I do agree with you as I just spent 8k on lawyer fees to get my son two years ago ( still paying off that debt now ).

The fee to get my daughter was much cheaper years ago due to the circumstances that I don't really care to get into at the moment.

My question at this time is more involved with weather the CCW now might hurt my case, or if it's better to wait until after the case is finished to apply for it. ( Certification Class has already been completed for several months now )

[Kreyzhorse]

I don't know that it will hurt or help your case, but I do know that in some states CCW are public records. Either way, a lawyer would be the best person to ask.

[Evan Thomas]

A couple of things: first, the people who are saying "Talk to a lawyer" are absolutely right. Even if you don't need one to represent you in court, it won't cost you $8k to get some advice.

The second thing: it sounds like you're doing well with keeping the handgun locked up, and training your daughter to be safe. But if you're teaching her to shoot, etc. (And the two of you are having fun while you're doing that, I bet ) SHE knows there's a gun in the house, and she may well mention it to someone at some point. Even to her mother, teenagers being what they are -- "Dad and I have fun together, we went shooting last weekend, how come you never do stuff like that with me?"

I understand that you're concerned that a judge will react negatively to knowing there's a handgun on the premises -- but it's going to make a much worse impression if it looks like you've been trying to hide that fact. (And you know, of course, that asking your daughter to lie about this, or help you conceal it, would be putting her in an awful position -- I'm assuming you'd never do that.)

So, yes, talk to a lawyer, and do what will demonstrate that you're a responsible parent.

[Enoy21]

Vanya , all good points.

And you are correct , probably the first thing I need to do is to atleast speak to on irregardless of any decisions of weather or not I hire them. Even If I just pay them a smaller fee for the advice.

Her mother and I have discussed that I have taken her to the range with me and taught her how to shoot and she didn't seem to have a problem with it. I really don't think she would even bring it up as I'm pretty sure her Live in boyfriend also has one. ( unconfirmed) But she's never really voiced any objections to it as she grew up like I did with our dads always having guns in the house.

Deep down , her mother knows how much I love our daughter and care for her , so I really don't believe she can use Safety at all as something to bring up in court ( Right now I'm the over protective dad , my daughter is upset and not liking dad's rules [again teenager] and wants to go live with fun loving every other weekend Disneyland mom )

And no , I would never ask her to lie or hide the truth. I've always strived for her to be honest even if the outcome isn't pleasant.



I guess I'm more concerned that the JUDGE would bring it up by seeing that recent court records show that I applied for a CCW. That even if she didn't have an issue with it , since he is so Anti-gun that he would have a biased view of it. So I feel that as long as them looking at my hisotry for the purpose3 of the case is only looking at Criminal and traffic history I will be fine and nothing to worry about.

I'm just curious if the CCW would show up on something if they checked my history or if it's kept in a separate file and format that wouldn't be accessed unless specifically requested.

[NavyLT]

As to a lawyer , based on my case , I'm still in debate on weather I will get one or not. At this point , I really don't think her mother has much of a chance , but before making that decision I wanted to get some information on things to watch for with firearms.

She's going to have a lawyer, I'll bet. It depends entirely upon your state as to what the availability to CCW records will be. Seiously, though, do you really want to go to court and have her lawyer pull something completely off the wall and have to go through that oh crap moment without your own lawyer to back you up?

[Enoy21]

Actually , she never had a lawyer in the first trial and this summons shows That she went to the magistrate and filled out the paperwork herself ( her own handwriting) . Not lawyer Letterhead. ( like I said , been through this the past two years with my son ) I'm also pretty well aware of her financial situation at the moment and have doubts she could come close to affording one, but agian I could be wrong.



But that really is something more for general discussion and not the Legal section....

[Yellowfin]

Talk to the folks at VCDL, as this is their field of expertise. A very good angle for you to use would be that you are being a responsible parent by having a CCW, as you are concerned with your family's safety and your own on their behalf. Since you have two valuable lives in your care doing what you can to protect them from harm is an argument in your favor, not against.

[OuTcAsT]

On the other hand, it could be argued that since you have aquired a handgun carry license, you are, from a legal standpoint, squeaky clean. and from an ethical standpoint on solid ground. You are jumping through all the hoops to aquire said license, and this points toward a healthy concern for your own, and your families safety

Seriously, Having gone through an almost identical circumstance, do whatever you must to take a lawyer to court with you on this. If she does not have one, all the better.

[Evan Thomas]

Twellons, it sounds like you're a good dad -- and going about this in the right way.

It might be worthwhile to contact the NRA for a referral to a lawyer who specializes in New York State gun law -- who'd be more familiar with the NYS permit process than your average divorce/custody lawyer might be -- IIRC, the NRA does have a list.

Good luck with this.

[Enoy21]

Thank you all for the thoughts and feedback. I'm contacting a few lawyers here in my City to get a consultation. Based on what I've heard and understand , the CCW really shouldn't effect anything negatively regarding the case.

Again , her mother already knows about the guns so it won't be a big secret... And like some of you said , perhaps the CCW which shows the gun safety class and consciousness to the laws and safety would be a good thing.

[OuTcAsT]

Good Luck !

[Enoy21]

Thank you OutCast

[Creature]

Get a good lawyer...the best one you can barely afford.

[stickhauler]

And granted this is in Ohio, if you have a concealed carry permit it is linked to your record in most or all cases. My instructor told us to make sure if anytime we were stopped in a traffic stop to immediately disclose to the officer that we were a concealed carry holder, and inform them as well if we were currently carrying or not, and then ask what the officer wanted us to do, all this while keeping our hands on the steering wheel where the officer could see them clearly. According to him, it's linked to any auto registration in our name, so I'd think it would be linked in most any legal arena in the state as well.

[MrNiceGuy]

You need a lawyer. I dislike gambling period, but gambling with the future of your children is despicable.


and stop saying irregardless, it's not a word
irrespective is a word, regardless is a word, irregardless is not

[dakota223]

chances are youll be splitting cost of a guardian ablightem anyways most states provide a attourney to the interest of the children and split the cost between the parents. So whats one more attourney to pay for, its to get your children. Im in the same boat, but in ohio.

[Enoy21]

Lol. Mr Nice guy , now I see why you are called Nice guy ...

Lawyer is in the works , I have a couple appointments scheduled for next month when I can get a day off to talk to them. ( Court is not until June ).

Agreed Irregardless is not a word , Ironically I was telling my daughter the same thing the other day and didn't realize how much I put it in here. Old habit , hard to break.

I have decided to wait on the CCW until I speak to one and see what their thoughts are. I'm hoping I can get one for a one time fee instead of hourly like the last guy charged me ( which got dragged out by both lawyers I believe and cost me a fortune )

[Enoy21]

P.S. All of the Lawyers I had planned to contact have come back now as either " No longer doing family Law" or " not taking cases a the moment" Or " Not recommended cause they suck" .



I do have an appointment with a highly recommended attorney tomorrow and my GF works for an Attorney who is an avid Firearm shooter and long time CCW/NRA member. One of the long time employees there ( 30 yrs ) said that it would not negatively effect me in anyway and the judge would not use it at all as an issue.

[brickeyee]

Virginia Concealed Handgun Permits are granted by the circuit court for your county/city of residence and part of the courts records.

A Roanoke newspaper even got the statewide list and put it online a few years ago.