Expert: Dean Speir - 8/24/2009

Question
"No less than 25 years ago I was arrested in a Virginia airport for having a weapon in my carry on. I was flying "peoples airline" carry-on's was all they allow. I was charged with a felony, paid a fine and went on, never did jail time. In 1998 give or take, I purchased a long gun from Walmart in North Carolina where I now reside and the process went without a hitch. In 2007 I applied again for another long gun, this time I was denied the right because of my past "criminal" record. What do I need to do in order to restore all my rights a a citizen?. It has been over two decades ago and the only encounter with the law since those days have been speeding tickets."

Answer
Please excuse this delayed response… I was under the impression that I had answered this when it was first posed.

I remember People's Express (1981-1987) very well for the same reason that you do, except that I read the no-so-fine print and did not attempt to board in Newark, NJ with a handgun in my carry-on for my $19.95(!) flight to Norfolk, VA, for the World Shoot VI in September 1983.

Reminiscences aside, this isn't a Second Amendment question but a Criminal Justice one… and how many times have I written that here because of visitor's inability to comprehend the difference!

But I'll make some observations based on your inquiry.

#1: I think you probably "slipped through the cracks" in your earlier (circa 1998) transaction, as this was before the FBI computerized NICS "Instant Check" was on-line… that wasn't activated 'til 1 December 1999… and clearly the "old-fashioned" method was less than perfect.

Not so in 2007 as you discovered to your detriment, as by that time the Criminal Justice records from Virginia were linked into the FBI's national data base.

#2: Why you dis-remembered that Felony conviction in Virginia from the early '80s is best known to you… I know that's not something which would slip MY mind! (I can also speculate that you pled out back them because of the promise of a fine, not fully realizing that a Felony… and a firearms-related one at that!… would cause you to be a Prohibited Person from that time forward.)

In short, you wuz lucky, ol' son, that you didn't awaken one morning in the late '90s to the sounds of a BATF Warrants Squad come to arrest you for a weapons violation and Filing a False Instrument under the Brady Law.

#3: You need to consult an attorney (and pay his fee) and initiate the process of obtaining a Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities in order to make you again eligible to possess firearms.

A Certificate of Relief from Civil Disabilities may be granted by a Court of Competent Jurisdiction to a defendant who has been sentenced to a revocable sentence (probation, conditional discharge, etc.) or a sentence other than one executed by commitment to a state correctional facility.

Since you assert that you were not sentenced to jail back in the early '80s, this bodes well for your application… except that you mention "speeding tickets" in the plural, and a court make view that against you since they may reason that you don't learn your lessons.

Still, see an attorney and initiate the process.

You don't mention whether or not you still have that Walmart-purchased long gun, but as a Prohibited Person, you shouldn't.

Just sayin'….