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Does having been diagnosed with PTSD preclude someone from owning a firearm? I don't think you can get that expunged! 
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How would a felon get his RKBA restored?
- Thread starter Charlie Mike
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In that case, I'm double F'd 
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"Theoretically" in your mind. Between being off-topic and probably futile, I'll pass on explaining the odious "three strikes" laws which vary from state to state and which many legislatures have refused to enact. From my cursory review of David Crosby's criminal history, his only charges in the past 24 years were for the illegal possession of a hunting knife, ammunition, and around one ounce of marijuana ("offenses" which would have astonished our Founding Fathers). Would you really feel safer if David Crosby were serving life in prison? Personally, I'm far more concerned about politicians (including the current and two previous occupants of the White House), judges, LEOs, and other persons wielding the coercive power of government who have histories of the recreational use of illicit substances (while seeking to incarcerate and ruin the lives of other Americans who engage in the same behavior they previously enjoyed) than I am with musicians.
Lamentably, that's incorrect. Twenty-six states and the federal government have statutes which broadly fall within the "three strikes" category. Each law has its own set of definitions and exclusions. In some states, prosecutors have enormous discretion whether to apply the statute to a defendant or not.
Charlie Mike, I hope you received the e-mail I sent you several days ago.
Does having been diagnosed with PTSD preclude someone from owning a firearm? I don't think you can get that expunged!
Contrary to widespread misinformation on the subject, a mere diagnosis of PTSD does not classify anyone as a "prohibited person" under GCA-68. However, the VA gave the DOJ a list of thousands of veterans who'd received mental health counseling for PTSD and/or other conditions. These names were entered into the NCIS and many veterans were denied "permission" to purchase a firearm or obtain a CCW license when they attempted to do so. Again, this is off-topic so I'll pass on a detailed explanation.
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Thanks, I got the email. You got my pm?
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What I received was an e-mail message with your e-mail address and phone number. Unlike other boards I belong to, I don't see a pm feature on BF; perhaps it's reserved for fee-paying members. I replied to you via e-mail rather than by telephone to save you money and for other reasons. If I can ever be of any assistance to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. While I deplore your burglary offense, I still cling to the notion I was taught decades ago in elementary school: once a person completes a criminal sentence, they return to society with a "clean slate." Unfortunately, in contemporary America that concept is as dead as the Second Amendment.
What I neglected to caution you about in my e-mail was the risk of becoming a "felon in constructive possession of firearms." "Constructive possession," like "insider trading," has no statutory definition in the U.S. Code; it effectively means whatever a scheming prosecutor can convince a judge or jurors of. One set of DOJ employees, federal probation officers, routinely give felons on supervised release written permission to travel to other states for the purpose of selling merchandise at gun shows (I am not making this up) where they're obviously in close proximity to hundreds of firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Another set of DOJ (former Treasury Dept.) employees, BATF agents, routinely arrest "prohibited persons" for the illegal possession of firearms and/or ammunition even when such items were stored hundreds or thousands of miles away and the defendants were never in physical possession of such items. Pointing out this obvious legal inconsistency to federal judges is usually as fruitless as attempting to explain why most folks who falsely claim to support the RKBA really just endorse a mere privilege subject to governmental restriction/revocation.
jdm61
itinerant metal pounder
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Okay.......a couple of points even if they have already been made.
1. Federal law requires FULL restoration of firearms rights on state charges. In the case of at least one state, they have attempted to prosecute not because rights to own handguns were not reastored, but because the BATFE did not consider the expunging of criminal records by the state to be "true" expungement because the offenses could be used in later snetencing as aggravating circumstances.
2. Federal law does not prohibit the possession by any felon of true antique weapons (those actually made before January 1, 1899) or replicas of antique firearms aqs long as they either don not fire fixed centerfire or rimfire cartidges or the cartridges are no longer made in the Us and not available in the general stream of commerce. Bottom line is if you can buy ammo for the replica OR of you possess ammo for an antique, you are hosed. One thing that has happened recently is that when a bunch of Martini-henry rifles were found still wrapped in paper in somewhere like India, it make it feasible for one of the specialty ammo makers to start making ammo, whihc means amo is available, but you still can't load up your wall hanger. Also, unless you can craft all of the components for unavailable ammo for your antique, forget about firing it. Primers are illegal to possess and this includes 209 shotgun primers used in modern muzzle loaders, which are, in theory legal for a felon to possess under Federal law. More on the state issues in the next subheading.
3. Many states treat things differently than the Feds. In Texas, by law, you can possess a modern firearm only in your home or other place that qualifies as your "premises" 5 years after sanctions end, be they jail time or probation. However, Federal law says you can't because you haven't had your rights restored. Ohio and a couple of other states only ban you from possessing firearms if you are convicted of "violent" felonies, but Federal law says ANY felony or domestic violence misdemeanor. FYI, burglary is considered as a matter of law to be a "violent felony" in many jurisdictions. Other states only ban you from possessing a pistol, but the Frds say different.
4. Federal law considers antique firearms, replicas thereof and pretty mcuh any muzzleloader to be exempt from the provisions of this law. HOWEVER, this is not the case with the states. The majority of states classify muzzleloaders as firearms for purposes of legal possession and carry. other states, Florida included, prohibit the possession by felons of any firearm that is not a true antique or a reasonably replica of an antique. Some poor schlub was recently prosecuted for having an inline muzzleloader even though every law enforcement officer and FFL holder that he talked to said it was okay....tough noogies on him. IN Florida, the burden of proof is upon the defendant to prove that the gun is actually and "antique" so you had better hope that you don't have a smart prosecutor that can successfully argue that a Lyman Great Plains Rifle is not a "true" replica of any pre 1899 rifle and therefore not really an antique.
5. The BATFE normally defers to the states as far as restoration of firearms rights go as long as the states dot all of their i's and cross all of their t's as far as making the restoration a full one. However, some states do no recognize full restoration by other states. North Carolina, whihc does not restore pistol rights, not only fails as "full" restoration under Federal law, but they will prosecute you for possession of a pistol within the state even if you have had your full rights restored in your home state. Additionally, in some states
6. Where it REALLY gets messy is when a state does not restore firearms rights to felons as a matter of course or you would not currently qualify for restoration under their law, yet if by some quirk of fate you are able to get your rights restored and get a CCW permit, the state you move to may by reciprocal law, recognize your CCW and yet you may still be prohibited from owning a firearm under the law.
7. In some states, even a pardon from the governor or the state clemency board cannot restore your firearms rights and some other things unless is it specifically a pardon granted because subsequent evidence indicated that you were probably innocent of the crime.
Are you confused yet?
Here is a big one.
8..In some states, it may actually be harder to get your firearms rights restored if you have been convicted of pretty much ANY drug offense, felony or otherwise, than if you had been convicted of a non-violent felony. Under the new Rules Of Exercutive Clemency in Florida, the firearms rights of the small group convicted of a certain range of non-violent felonies automatically have their firearms rights restored by operation of law when they finish their sentence.
9. There are many jurisdictions where felons have all of their civil rights restored (voting, jury duty, eligibility for government employment) EXCEPT for their firearms rights. There has also been at least one incident in Illinois IIRC, where a state used to automatically restore firearms rights at a point in time after your other rights were restored, but changed the law. The Feds tried to prosecute one guy because his rights had not been restored right away, but at a time certain after the others had been restored and because even though they state was not applying the new law retroactively to the guy who already had his rights restored, the Feds still claimed that under Federal law, the law should in fact, be applied retroactively.
10. Remember that in almost all cases, the interpretations of these laws by the courts, which, of course, becomes the "new" law, involves cases where the defendants have been busted for something else and they happened to be in possession of a firearm at the time and they are usually VERY unsympathetic defendants, so you will generally get the worst possible decision as legal precedent.
11. If you have been convicted of a Federal felony other than a VERY limited range of purely financial crimes like "unfair trade practices" (the Feds have made darn near everything a felony nowadays), everything is out the door except for non-cartidge firings antiques/replicas or muzzleoaders. The Secretary of the Treasury has the legal authority to "rehabilitate" you, but Congress passed a law during the Clinton years prohibiting the BATFE from spending any money to conduct investigations related to reahbilitation/clemency, so they only way that you can get your rights back is by Presidential pardon.
12. In some states like Floirida, you can, in theory, be prosecuted for "constructive possession" of a firearm if you are in the area of a gun and they can prove that you COULD have had access to it even if they gun is clearly not yours or in your immediate possession.. This can include riding along in a car on the way to going hunting oif your buddies have guns even if you are going to be hunting with a bow or muzzleloader!!!
The bottom line is that these laws have gotten so screwy that even a lot of people who would normally think that a felon shouldn't have ANY rights at all may start taking a hard look at the direction that firearms law are taking in these more "extreme" cases because it doesn't bode well for the rest of the people.!
1. Federal law requires FULL restoration of firearms rights on state charges. In the case of at least one state, they have attempted to prosecute not because rights to own handguns were not reastored, but because the BATFE did not consider the expunging of criminal records by the state to be "true" expungement because the offenses could be used in later snetencing as aggravating circumstances.
2. Federal law does not prohibit the possession by any felon of true antique weapons (those actually made before January 1, 1899) or replicas of antique firearms aqs long as they either don not fire fixed centerfire or rimfire cartidges or the cartridges are no longer made in the Us and not available in the general stream of commerce. Bottom line is if you can buy ammo for the replica OR of you possess ammo for an antique, you are hosed. One thing that has happened recently is that when a bunch of Martini-henry rifles were found still wrapped in paper in somewhere like India, it make it feasible for one of the specialty ammo makers to start making ammo, whihc means amo is available, but you still can't load up your wall hanger. Also, unless you can craft all of the components for unavailable ammo for your antique, forget about firing it. Primers are illegal to possess and this includes 209 shotgun primers used in modern muzzle loaders, which are, in theory legal for a felon to possess under Federal law. More on the state issues in the next subheading.
3. Many states treat things differently than the Feds. In Texas, by law, you can possess a modern firearm only in your home or other place that qualifies as your "premises" 5 years after sanctions end, be they jail time or probation. However, Federal law says you can't because you haven't had your rights restored. Ohio and a couple of other states only ban you from possessing firearms if you are convicted of "violent" felonies, but Federal law says ANY felony or domestic violence misdemeanor. FYI, burglary is considered as a matter of law to be a "violent felony" in many jurisdictions. Other states only ban you from possessing a pistol, but the Frds say different.
4. Federal law considers antique firearms, replicas thereof and pretty mcuh any muzzleloader to be exempt from the provisions of this law. HOWEVER, this is not the case with the states. The majority of states classify muzzleloaders as firearms for purposes of legal possession and carry. other states, Florida included, prohibit the possession by felons of any firearm that is not a true antique or a reasonably replica of an antique. Some poor schlub was recently prosecuted for having an inline muzzleloader even though every law enforcement officer and FFL holder that he talked to said it was okay....tough noogies on him. IN Florida, the burden of proof is upon the defendant to prove that the gun is actually and "antique" so you had better hope that you don't have a smart prosecutor that can successfully argue that a Lyman Great Plains Rifle is not a "true" replica of any pre 1899 rifle and therefore not really an antique.
5. The BATFE normally defers to the states as far as restoration of firearms rights go as long as the states dot all of their i's and cross all of their t's as far as making the restoration a full one. However, some states do no recognize full restoration by other states. North Carolina, whihc does not restore pistol rights, not only fails as "full" restoration under Federal law, but they will prosecute you for possession of a pistol within the state even if you have had your full rights restored in your home state. Additionally, in some states
6. Where it REALLY gets messy is when a state does not restore firearms rights to felons as a matter of course or you would not currently qualify for restoration under their law, yet if by some quirk of fate you are able to get your rights restored and get a CCW permit, the state you move to may by reciprocal law, recognize your CCW and yet you may still be prohibited from owning a firearm under the law.
7. In some states, even a pardon from the governor or the state clemency board cannot restore your firearms rights and some other things unless is it specifically a pardon granted because subsequent evidence indicated that you were probably innocent of the crime.
Are you confused yet?
Here is a big one.
8..In some states, it may actually be harder to get your firearms rights restored if you have been convicted of pretty much ANY drug offense, felony or otherwise, than if you had been convicted of a non-violent felony. Under the new Rules Of Exercutive Clemency in Florida, the firearms rights of the small group convicted of a certain range of non-violent felonies automatically have their firearms rights restored by operation of law when they finish their sentence.
9. There are many jurisdictions where felons have all of their civil rights restored (voting, jury duty, eligibility for government employment) EXCEPT for their firearms rights. There has also been at least one incident in Illinois IIRC, where a state used to automatically restore firearms rights at a point in time after your other rights were restored, but changed the law. The Feds tried to prosecute one guy because his rights had not been restored right away, but at a time certain after the others had been restored and because even though they state was not applying the new law retroactively to the guy who already had his rights restored, the Feds still claimed that under Federal law, the law should in fact, be applied retroactively.
10. Remember that in almost all cases, the interpretations of these laws by the courts, which, of course, becomes the "new" law, involves cases where the defendants have been busted for something else and they happened to be in possession of a firearm at the time and they are usually VERY unsympathetic defendants, so you will generally get the worst possible decision as legal precedent.
11. If you have been convicted of a Federal felony other than a VERY limited range of purely financial crimes like "unfair trade practices" (the Feds have made darn near everything a felony nowadays), everything is out the door except for non-cartidge firings antiques/replicas or muzzleoaders. The Secretary of the Treasury has the legal authority to "rehabilitate" you, but Congress passed a law during the Clinton years prohibiting the BATFE from spending any money to conduct investigations related to reahbilitation/clemency, so they only way that you can get your rights back is by Presidential pardon.
12. In some states like Floirida, you can, in theory, be prosecuted for "constructive possession" of a firearm if you are in the area of a gun and they can prove that you COULD have had access to it even if they gun is clearly not yours or in your immediate possession.. This can include riding along in a car on the way to going hunting oif your buddies have guns even if you are going to be hunting with a bow or muzzleloader!!!
The bottom line is that these laws have gotten so screwy that even a lot of people who would normally think that a felon shouldn't have ANY rights at all may start taking a hard look at the direction that firearms law are taking in these more "extreme" cases because it doesn't bode well for the rest of the people.!
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Does having been diagnosed with PTSD preclude someone from owning a firearm? I don't think you can get that expunged!
Simple diagnosis of mental illness is not a disqualifier. The standard for disqualification requires adjudication as "mentally defective" by a court. Some states have laws or policies that are more stringent. For example, Deleware maintains a policy (or stricter) of denying purchase autherizations to people who have received so much as outpatient counseling from state mental health facilities unless the affected person can get a psychiatrist to sign an affidavit releasing the burden.
There was an issue during the Clinton years, shortly after NICS was started when thousands of vets were added to the denial list for haveing received mental stress and PTSD benefits from the VA.