Gun Rights
Petition for Restoration of Firearm and Ammunition Rights
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the individual right to bear arms. Firearm ownership in the State of Minnesota allows possession and use for lawful use of self-defense, hunting, and other firearm sporting activities.
For those who have lost their gun rights, you can get them back! A petition for restoration of firearm and ammunition rights is the means of getting your rights back. Murray Law Firm PLLC has worked with many clients and successfully put them back in the deer stand.
Minnesota law can prohibit possession and use of firearms and ammunition based upon a court order when:
(1) a person’s criminal conviction prevents them for owning or possessing firearms and ammunition;
(2) a person has been charged with violent crime and that person’s right to possess or use firearms and ammunition is prohibited while the case is pending;
(3) an order for protection is granted based upon a showing of domestic abuse, and a judge orders a person forfeit their firearms and ammunition pursuant to the OFP; or
(4) a person has been civilly committed, whether due to mental illness, chemical dependency, or other grounds.
Persons prohibited from using or possessing firearms and ammunition can face severe penalties. For example, a person convicted of a felony who possesses or uses firearms/ammunition faces a presumptive commitment to prison for 36 months, and the sentencing for unlawful possession of a firearm only gets longer with an increasingly higher criminal history score.
Many people simply want to be law abiding when it comes to firearms. The most common problem is that a person is convicted of a felony crime of violence. The ‘crime of violence’ is a broad term encompassing crimes like small-amount drug possession, regardless of whether ‘violence’ occurred, as well as assaults, sex offenses, and many others. If your sentencing order prohibited you from possession of firearms and ammunition and your firearm rights have not been restored, you may be charged with a new felony offense should you be found to have used or possessed firearms.
From the time of conviction, a person may complete probation under a stay of adjudication, a stay of imposition, or a stay of execution and receive a non-felony conviction (for example, successful completion of probation with a stay of imposition may reduce the charged crime to a misdemeanor level offense). The sentencing order itself may still have restricted a Defendant’s gun rights even when a conviction for the same charge was not deemed a felony conviction, but a lower level offense instead.
A Petition for the Restoration of Use and Possession of Firearms and Ammunition Rights is the proper channel to get your gun rights back. These can be complex based on the facts of the offense and, while a person can petition without an attorney, if the petition is unsuccessful, that person will have to wait another 3 years to petition the court again. It is important to get it right the first time. Hurry, Call Murray, for a consultation about how your rights can be restored.
It is noteworthy that even when Minnesota has restored a person’s firearm rights, there are potential issues that arise on the federal level. In short, even after a successful petition for restoration of firearm rights in Minnesota states that you may own and possess guns and ammunition, there may still be federal prohibitions. This is a surprisingly common occurrence. If this arises, Murray Law Firm PLLC is here to achieve the best result for your case and prevent further issues from arising, erasing the possibility of being charged with a firearm crime at a later date.