Expert: Robert P. Firriolo - 3/9/2010

Question
Hi i have clean history never charged with anything in my life at any age but around 2003 my dad had a domestic violence charge and i have nothing to do with it and ever since that date i live alone would that bother me in anyway of getting my gun permit ??? thank for taking the time to read my E-mail.

Answer
I can't answer your question with any certainty because whether you can get a handgun permit is a question of state and/or local law, and you don't tell me where you live. Some places give anybody a permit as long as they have no criminal record; others impose education and training requirements (like passing a handgun safety course, or demonstrating safe gun handling); and still others make it difficult to get a permit unless you can demonstrate some special need to carry a concealed handgun. Some places do not issue concealed handgun carry permits at all.

Additionally, federal law contains a list of things that make somebody prohibited from possessing firearms and ammo:

- Convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, with certain exceptions. The term "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year ... does not include any State offense classified by the laws of the State as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or less.";

-  Convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence;

-  Fugitives from justice;

- Unlawful users of or those addicted to any controlled substance;

- Adjudicated as a mental defective or previously committed to a mental institution;

- Aliens illegally / unlawfully in the United States or an alien admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa;

- Dishonorably discharged from the US armed forces;

- Renounced his or her citizenship from the US; or

- Subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner.

As long as you do not fall within one of these categories, federal law allows you to possess a gun, and in many, but not all, states you should also be able to obtain a permit to carry a handgun. You say you have a "clean history," so you should not be a prohibited person. Your father's domestic violence charge should not affect your ability to lawfully possess a firearm.