The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Conference Center > Law and Civil Rights

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 4, 2010, 01:45 AM   #1
roach4047
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 26, 2008
Posts: 189
What is my Disability Status???

Almost 5 years ago now I got tangled up in a Civil/Criminal case which caused me a fair bit of greif at the time. In a nut shell a custody matter involving my oldest daughter and her mother was at the center of things and as they sometimes do things got ugly pretty quickly. The Ex got her feelings hurt when I picked up my daughter without her consent and as a form of retaliation some pretty ugly accusations were made against me and I soon found myself utilizing the legal services of my attorney for more than simply that of handling my custody case. I went to pick up my daughter for a court ordered visit and her mother had decided that the visit wasn't going to be allowed despite the fact that things had already been settled in the courts months earlier. During the "Incident" in which my daughters mother attempted to remove my daughter from my presence I basically impeded her approach and stopped her efforts to interfere with me leaving with her. I assure you that all the court documents were in order. I knew better than to simply take my daughter without the permission of the courts. Well the fact that I imposed my decision to take my daughter for the visit against her mothers wishes was simply too much for my daughters mom to handle at the time I guess. She immediately called me on my cell phone and threatened me that she was filing assault charges if I didn't bring my daughter back. I told her she was full of it and that I didn't do anything to her other than to stop her from getting her hands on our daughter. Well that's not how she presented it to the local police department. The crazy woman went down and made good on her threat and completed a sworn affidavit stating that I nearly killed her.



To cut through and get to the end of things there was a temporary restraining order placed into effect the very next day and I had to get my attorney involved in order to get the matter cleared up. But since the courts take time to schedule things such as hearings it wouldn't be until several months later that the case would go in front of a Majestrate to be heard and in the mean time this temporary emergency restraining order had me placed under a disability from possessing any sort of fire arms and a local Sherif showed up on my doorstep after maybe a week or so to serve me that notice. It was at that time that I surrendered my firearms to him. Fast forward.... Case was heard by the Majestrate... the Ex and I agreed to stay 500 ft apart from one another.. and I was permitted to get all my guns back from the Sheriffs office. After about a week I recieved a letter from the Courts signed by the Majestrate that I could then go pick up my guns. Got all my guns back with the letter that was sent to me without a problem. The criminal part of the mess concluded later in the year and the "Domestic Violence" charge was dropped to a disorderly conduct via a plea bargain..... Fast forward again..2 yrs later I payed for a shotgun at a local sporting goods store and they ran the background check paperwork that I guess is now required for even the purchase of a long gun and I was denied the ability to purchase the shotgun.





I'm not under a disability that I'm aware of but how can I be certain? The fact that I was denied the purchase of the shotgun makes me question what my status is so far as my legal right to own a fire arm.



I tried following up with the "Agency" that handles the approval/denial process but ended up chasing my tail.



What's an easy method to determine what my Status is in regards to my ability to legally possess/own a fire arm or not?



I'm a Registered Nurse by profession and can't afford to get hemmed up in such a mess as to unknowingly possess firearms while under a disability should I decide to bring one into my possession again.



You can easily see the type of trouble I'm attempting to avoid. I want to avoid trouble with the law obviously but the fact that the County Judge sent me a letter so that I could pick up the guns that I owned at that time is an indicator that I'm "allowed" to have them but then I question why then was I denied the ability to purchase the shotgun? I haven't tried to purchase another gun since I was last denied the purchase of that shotgun 2 years ago. Possible clerical error? Or perhaps I was once again placed under a disability status once I made the plea to a disorderly conduct in place of the DV charge???



What is my Disability Status? Any way of easily determining this without dropping a lot of money?





Would a local police department assist me in getting a good answer to this question or would I need to ring my attorney to get get the answer. I'd feel better hearing it from an LEO since they would likely have access to the best source of information and of course would be tasked with handling such a matter should things be found not to be in my favor.



Roach

Last edited by roach4047; November 4, 2010 at 02:03 AM.
roach4047 is offline  
Old November 4, 2010, 10:38 AM   #2
Aguila Blanca
Staff
 
Join Date: September 25, 2008
Location: CONUS
Posts: 18,436
Quote:
What's an easy method to determine what my Status is in regards to my ability to legally possess/own a fire arm or not?
The easy method is to try buying a firearm and see what happens. You have done that, and you have learned that someone, somewhere, thinks you are prohibited.

Since you can't get it straightened out pro se (representing yourself), you need to put the attorney back on the case. It is possible that the agreement that you are your wife will remain 500 feet apart is construed as a restraining order.
Aguila Blanca is offline  
Old November 4, 2010, 11:45 AM   #3
schwefel
Member
 
Join Date: October 26, 2010
Location: Racine, WI
Posts: 27
Talk to your lawyer that represented you for the divorce/custody and ask for a recomendation of a lawyer who familiar with firearm law. It will likely be a criminal defense attorney, but maybe not.

This is not to say that they lawyer you had before did anything wrong or was negligent. It is just that you need someone who is well versed in what you are dealing and the mountain of legal red tape that is involved. Reading what you wrote, you should be able to purchase a firearm, ESPECIALLY as the judge gave you the letter saying that you could get your guns back. But, I am not a lawyer, and that is what you need.
schwefel is offline  
Old November 4, 2010, 02:32 PM   #4
CapeCodShooter
Member
 
Join Date: November 4, 2010
Posts: 29
"Talk to your lawyer that represented you for the divorce/custody and ask for a recomendation of a lawyer who familiar with firearm law."

Roach, I'm a retired lawyer and I can tell you that schwefl's advice was +1.

Federal law (the infamous "Lautenberg Amendment") prohibits certain persons with domestic relations orders against them from owning a firearm. State laws often follow along. These prohibitions do not necessarily last forever. A lawyer who knows what he or she is doing might be able to rectify your problem quickly and efficiently. If you try to do it by yourself, you might succeed, but more likely you will make things worse.

The best of luck to you.
CapeCodShooter is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:44 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.05740 seconds with 8 queries