Laws about felons and gun rights

[bmonti76]

I want to hear what you all know about the rules around people who have lost their rights to bare arms.

I have my rights, a permit to conceal, and consider myself a responsible gun owner. I have a couple of friends however that have made choices in their lives that no longer allow them this same luxury. I am curious... can they drive in my car with me while im carrying can I ride in theirs? can the come in my house, if guns are in the safe or not in the safe? whos responsibility is it? do I have to keep them away from my arms or do they need to know who around them is carrying.

these are not bad guys, I wouldn't hang with them if they were. They have made mistakes. Do I think all felons need to loose their right.. not really sure its an interesting debate.

I hope this doesn't start a feud around who should and who shouldn't have rights, that's not the point. I just want to know the rules.

Thanks

[KFhunter]

Just don't hand them one once you know they can't handle or possess a weapon, beyond that the responsibility falls upon them. 

They are the ones with restrictions not you,  but once you know then you have some responsibility to not provide them with a weapon knowingly.


Other than that you don't need to change anything to suit them.

[bowbuild]

There has been several debates about felons's rights as it were to guns....interesting debates....To your question...I think Kfhunter nailed it! They can go to walmart, they have guns(I have never been asked if I were a felon before they hand it to me to check out) So it is really up to the felon to know his/her boundries....unless you knowingly are helping him/her break state, or federal laws the reponsibility is on them. We don't have computers in our cars to check the status of someone else.

Bowbuild

[scout/sniper]

I could be wrong but,
I had a friend that lost his gun rights.
He would not ride in my vehicle if there were any firearms in it.
He said that he could be arrested just being in a car with firearms.
I don't know, maybe he didn't know the law, it's just what he told me.

[KFhunter]

He's right and wrong.  His PO is naturally going to ramp up the fear in him as much as possible RE: firearms.....

A traffic stop could go very unpleasant if the officer recognized him as a felon or worse on parole and there were visible guns in the car and possibly in reach. 

Honestly if he's just sitting as a passenger the odds an officer would even pull his ID is very low, unless the stop went very badly for you as a driver.


You can on body carry a handgun with permit and be fine, he has no access.
You can transport a long gun with him in the vehicle, as long as he has no access.  I'd put it in the trunk, if in a pickup I'd put it in a padlocked case out of view (empty of course)
Likewise keep the ammo restricted from access.

Now if you're driving to a shooting range and the officer recognizes your buddy as a felon then the stop could go badly very quick with a roadside interrogation,  why would you take a known felon to a shooting range?  Expect the weapons on you to be made safe in terry stop fashion.


If you're like a lot of guys around here and just carry a farm gun in the rig 24/7 then as long as your buddy can't simply reach over and take it out of a rack or something.  As long as you make an effort to restrict access then 99 times out of 100 you'd both be fine.


I represent no law enforcement agency so take this advice according to it's internet value.

[scout/sniper]

Thanks KF.
I figured he was paranoid, and should be.
He was always worried about my permitted carry firearm.

No, I would never give a felon access to a firearm.

[JLS]

I could be wrong but,
I had a friend that lost his gun rights.
He would not ride in my vehicle if there were any firearms in it.
He said that he could be arrested just being in a car with firearms.
I don't know, maybe he didn't know the law, it's just what he told me.

As a blanket statement, no he is not correct.  It would entirely depend up on the individual circumstance, to include proximity, accessibility, etc.

[scout/sniper]

Understood, thanks.

[Grizzly95]

What about these lawyers that say they can get your rights back? I work with a guy, have for over a year now, and he is taking an interest in hunting. About 8 years ago he was found guilty of domestic violence. He asked if he could hunt, I assume not with a firearm. He went through a in house alcohol treatment 3 years ago and has remained sober since and kept his act clean. I would consider the guy a responsible person. Never late to work, real family man, and hard worker. I'm on the fence about him gaining his rights back. Be great to have another hunting buddy, but on the other hand you sometimes never know someone.

[Smossy]

KFHunter is right on the money.

[bmonti76]

Thanks guys lots of good info here!
Like I said I do consider myself a responsible gun owner. I don't consider my concealed weapon ever accessible to anyone but myself, regardless of their rights. I take that stuff very seriously.
I believe our rights were earned and that they are a privilege to us. we cannot treat them as something that we are entitled too.
The guys I know that have lost their rights as I said are decent men that have made mistakes in life. I believe that most of us learn from mistakes. FORTUNATELY for the safety of all of us there are rules.
I like rules, and I like those that hold us accountable to them.

[bigtex]

Domestic violence convictions and firearms rights are odd. In WA (and other states) you can have your rights restored after a DV conviction, but federally you can't. So even if you have your firearms rights restored through the state courts and you are legal under state law, your possession of a firearm is illegal udner federal law. Federal law doesn't honor the state's restoration of firearm rights.

This whole law came about in 1996 and is commonly known as "the Lautenberg Amendment." The interesting facts about the law is that it was actually retroactive. You actually had military members and police officers who lost their positions because they had previous DV convictions and had their rights restored, yet this law came about and all of a sudden they couldn't possess firearms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Violence_Offender_Gun_Ban

[Grizzly95]

I think I am more confused. Do all dv convictions result in loss of rights? I knew some guys that only archery hunted because of dv convictions.

[bigtex]

I think I am more confused. Do all dv convictions result in loss of rights? I knew some guys that only archery hunted because of dv convictions.

Yes all dv convictions take away the gun rights.

In WA that is incorrect.

In WA firearm rights are only taken away for misdemeanor DV convictions involving assault in the fourth degree, coercion, stalking, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass in the first degree, or violation of the provisions of a protection order or no-contact order restraining the person or excluding the person from a residence (RCW 9.41.040(2)(a)(I)). Obviously a felony DV conviction will take gun rights away.

So if you vandalize your ex girlfriends car and are convicted of DV malicious mischief you will not lose your firearms rights.

Now federally is a different story. Federally, ANY misdemeanor DV conviction results in losing firearms rights. There will be a case in the US Supreme Court this year which will review if the federal law requires the DV to actually be physical violence, or can it be any DV conviction such as vandalism.

[Bofire]

  correct, and depending on the conviction you can have the conviction completely erased so that there has never been anything to lose your rights for. BigTex nailed it for DV convictions. Basically if your conviction had violence or a gun or weapon involved you are gonna have a tough time getting rights. If it is simple dope possesion or theft, writing a bad check, you have a pretty good chance, over time.
Carl