100%!!! never, EVER plead guilty to anything... millions for defense, not a penny in tribute
Posted on 07/11/2013 2:59:00 PM PDT by Altariel
Ron Kelly, a 20-year Army veteran, recently tried to buy a .22-caliber rifle at the Wal-Mart in Tomball, Texas. He was turned away because he failed the FBI background check. He appealed the rejection, and last month he got a Justice Department letter explaining that he was legally disqualified from owning guns, after handling them in defense of his country for two decades, because of a 42-year-old marijuana conviction. As a high school student in Durham, North Carolina, he had been caught with a small amount of pot and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession, receiving a sentence of probation because he was a first-time offender. The probation lasted a year, but according to the Justice Department the ensuing loss of Kelly's Second Amendment rights lasts a lifetime. "I am ashamed of the way my government has treated me," Kelly told The Houston Chronicle. "The government may have the greatest of intentions with the [law], but they messed it up."
Kelly's disqualification may in fact be unjustified under current law, which bars gun sales to people convicted of felonies but not misdemeanors (except for misdemeanors involving domestic violence). Unless the feds are treating what North Carolina called a misdemeanor as a felony for some reason, Kelly's pot conviction should not be covered by that provision. The only other disqualifier that seems possibly relevant is the one for anybody who is "an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," but more than a 1971 conviction for possession should be required to demonstrate that Kelly falls into that category.
Even if it turns out that Kelly is allowed to own a gun under current law, the case illustrates the folly of the absurdly broad criteria used to strip people of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, since it clearly would be illegal to sell Kelly a gun if he still occasionally smoked pot, whether for medical or recreational purposes, or if he had been caught with enough marijuana to be charged with a felony four decades ago. "Better" background checks can only mean more injustices like this.
[Thanks to Allen St. Pierre for the tip.]
Do you need a background check to buy a .22 in Texas?
I had a conviction when I was a juvenile but it has never stopped me from purchasing a weapon. I even went into the Corps with this conviction.
The lesson? Never plead guilty to ANYTHING. Make them prosecute you, wasting their time and money.
And never, ever talk to any “mental health professional”, even at a cocktail party!
Since when does a misdemeanor conviction affect 2nd Amendment or voting rights? Since when has it been a FedMob law? I thought those circumstances were covered by state laws. In fact I think he should have appealed to his state for a return of his rights.
Ok he was denied over a 42 year old conviction because of weed. Then shouldn’t that apply to ODumbo for cocaine use in his college years too - disqualified to be President?
I believe Texas Fossil still runs the Texas ping list.
I am not familiar with the applicable laws in that state and so defer to a Freeper with greater expertise.
Texas Fossil: Would you or a Freeper on your list please answer the question: “Do you need a background check to buy a .22 in Texas?”
You need to fill out Form 4473 no matter where you are.
He was denied by NCIS
This is obviously messed up. But with the current Department of “Justice” and BATFEIEIO, it’s not surprising.
TC
100%!!! never, EVER plead guilty to anything... millions for defense, not a penny in tribute
something smells in this article. My friend was quite the hell raiser in his youth. I know for a fact he had been convicted a few times for possession. I took him out last month and he bought a mosin-nagant and passed his background check.
(Catch 22)
Yet using cocaine qualifies O to shoot missiles.
Was your friend a veteran? If not, that may be the deciding factor.
Perhaps the fact that the man denied his rights in this account *is* an army veteran is the true “red flag”?
It certainly pegs him as a dissident. We’re supposed to lie quietly and let the FedMob aggressively beat our heads on the sidewalk and afterwards tell everyone we deserved it.
Otherwise you are guilty of Murder#2.
Or worse, you’re a closet Creepy Ass Cracka and more raciss dan a Klan man runnin’ a linen supply biz.
I believe that’s the way it is in every state due to federal laws.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.