Help understanding federal restriction, just had expungement

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nazty
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Help understanding federal restriction, just had expungement

Post by nazty »

I recently went to court and had all my weapons restrictions lift, as well as my felony expunged. However, the judge did tell me federal weapon restrictions may still be in place. My lawyer informed me there is a bill that was passed, but basically because of budget, it was placed on the back burner and no one is there to listen to requests to lift the federal restriction. What is this bill?

Also, I have state rights back..but not federal? I know that I won't be able to walk into a gun store and buy one, but can I shoot firearms? Or possess a firearm in the state?
revred
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by revred »

I think those would have best been answered by the attorney you hired. But, there are a large number of well-informed people on here that may be able to help. I'm not one of them, though. :wink:
nazty wrote:I recently went to court and had all my weapons restrictions lift, as well as my felony expunged. However, the judge did tell me federal weapon restrictions may still be in place. My lawyer informed me there is a bill that was passed, but basically because of budget, it was placed on the back burner and no one is there to listen to requests to lift the federal restriction. What is this bill?

Also, I have state rights back..but not federal? I know that I won't be able to walk into a gun store and buy one, but can I shoot firearms? Or possess a firearm in the state?
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by mrbone »

Caveat: I'm not a lawyer.

Last I looked, state offenses could be sealed but not expunged, though many people mistakenly call it "expunge." State used to only allow this for your first misdemeaner. I believe Kasich lobbied to get this change, don't know if it now encompasses felonies. If not then you must be referring to a federal felony. Here's the difference: a sealed record is sealed from the public but is still accessible to law enforcement. This means your employer won't see it when doing a background check, but the FBI could see it when doing a NICS check. I don't know how federal law works with whether or not it counts a sealed felony, but it very well could. So I guess first think I'd look at is if it's sealed or expunged. Then talk to a real lawyer. And just to cover your basis, maybe contact a sheriff or the FBI or BATF to confirm your lawyer's opinion.
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by evan price »

There is a process by which a felon can have the atf restore their gun rights. However congress has soecifically defunded the atf budget to prevent them from processing applications. Barring that your only other alternative is a Presidential pardon.
Heres some good info including the Bean case references:
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/rpt/2008-R-0617.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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BobK
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by BobK »

If your state level offense is expunged or sealed, then it is no longer a conviction under federal law. Thus your federal firearms disability would no longer apply.

However, you will likely have to go through the process of attempting a NICS check, then go through the NICS Appeal Process, and ultimately get a UPIN. You will probably need to provide a court-certified copy of the expungement to the FBI as part of the NICS appeal.

As mentioned above, it is probable that your conviction is technically sealed instead of expunged. However, for our puposes, what is important is you no longer have a conviction.

Since IANAL and it is illegal for a felon to attempt to purchase a firearm, I recommend you check the above information with your attorney.
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by MacDonald »

If your 'expungement' is actually a set aside (sealed) then you can also look into getting the conviction reduced to a misdemeanor. If the case was sealed/set aside, the felony conviction will still show up. Some states allow this (California, for example). It worked for me!
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by sd790 »

You might want to talk to Derek DeBrosse - a respected firearms rights attorney who can understand what can be done to make sure that your rights are restored if it's possible. He can be found at http://ohiogunlawyer.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
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odskaggs2
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by odskaggs2 »

Would need several more details for me to even guess. For instance is the felony from Ohio or not. I had a similar situation and I also have a UPIN number I received a few months ago.
Send me a message if you like and I can walk you through the UPIN process.
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rg920
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by rg920 »

Nazty...It has been some years ago but...I know of a fella that was convicted in 1987 of Agg Assault c/ Physical Harm Spec & RSP. He was sentenced to 1.5 to 5 years at OSR for his misdeeds. Was released on parole and kept his nose clean. Went to court and applied for expungement/sealing of criminal record. He was granted the sealing and all rights were restored. Since that time, this fella has legally (NCIC) bought several firearms. He did mention the first buy he was delayed for a few hours, but since that time can usually complete a transaction in about twenty minutes on any given day.

He even went to extent of calling the Cleveland ATF office and asking one of the agents on duty that day about the federal disability. The officer told him that there was a legal process in getting federal firearm rights restored, but did confirm that Congress has defunded that operation so all requests essentially go the the governments version of purgatory...

Again, the advice of checking with a lawyer is always top notch advice, but I am fairly certain that once your paperwork makes it through the city, county, state and federal offices you should be golden.

As often stated on these pages IANAL and any thing I say is merely an opinion.

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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by Werz »

BobK wrote:If your state level offense is expunged or sealed, then it is no longer a conviction under federal law. Thus your federal firearms disability would no longer apply.
It's really that simple:
Any conviction which has been expunged, or set aside or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes of this chapter, unless such pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms. 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(20).
Simple, yes, except when it's not. See United States v. Cassidy, 899 F.2d 543, 549-550 (6th Cir. 1990); United States v. Scarberry, No. 99-3205, 2000 WL 712381 at *3 (6th Cir. May 23, 2000); United States v. Penney, 576 F.3d 297, 303 (6th Cir. 2009). Other federal circuits disagree on the Cassidy interpretation of whether the whole body of state law can "expressly provide[] that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms." The current state of law on this subject is very messy. As I have stated before, the "belt and suspenders" approach of sealing the record and seeking relief from disability is the safest.
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Re: Help understanding federal restriction, just had expunge

Post by SeanC »

nazty wrote:I recently went to court and had all my weapons restrictions lift, as well as my felony expunged. However, the judge did tell me federal weapon restrictions may still be in place. My lawyer informed me there is a bill that was passed, but basically because of budget, it was placed on the back burner and no one is there to listen to requests to lift the federal restriction. What is this bill?

Also, I have state rights back..but not federal? I know that I won't be able to walk into a gun store and buy one, but can I shoot firearms? Or possess a firearm in the state?
What offenses were involved?
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