Expert: Dean Speir - 8/2/2008

Question
I was arrested 10 years ago on a marijuana possession, and given a misdemeanor. I haven't been in trouble since. Well..Recently the police found out i owned a gun which I had purchased about 5 years ago and arrested me on criminal possession of a firearm. I have read that you cannot purchase a gun if you are a convicted felon or a misdemeanor domestic assault charge. I went through a gun dealership and had to filled out a NICS application and had to wait 3 days until I was approved. I did this all legally. They dropped the charges and returned my gun..but a lawyer said that state laws in kansas said that a person convicted of any drug charges cannot purchase a firearm. I am wondering then, why did the federal govt. approve for me to purchase and own a gun?

Answer
Hey… (wait for it)… I'm not an attorney, and I haven't lived in Kansas since 1948-49, so what do I know?

If you filled out the Form 4473 truthfully aned accurately, and the FBI-administered NICS Check gave you a "Delayed" followed by a "Proceed," then you must have been jake with them.

If your FFL Dealer, assuming that he/she operates in the Sunflower State and knows the laws of Kansas, transferred the gun to you, then the further assumption would be that you are not a prohibited person.

Now, if "a lawyer" (your attorney? Someone you met in a bar somewhere who averred that he was "a lawyer?") is correct that any sort of drug-related conviction bars you from possessing firearms, then why did the authority drop the "criminal possession" charges, and return your firearm to you?

Something's not right here, so I suggest that you retain an Kansas attorney to clear this question up for you.

G'luck.