Expert: Dan Haynes - 8/9/2010

Question
Can i buy a gun with a 3rd degree domestic violence conviction in 2004 it wasn't a felony and carries a max sentence of a year in jail? I want to buy a rifle and a shot gun for hunting!

Answer
Shane,

Thanks for asking. Here is a summary of federal gun laws that will answer your question.

Best regards,

Dan

The following classes of people are ineligible to possess, receive, ship, or transport firearms or ammunition:

   * Those convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for over one year, except state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less.
   * Fugitives from justice.
   * Unlawful users of certain depressant, narcotic, or stimulant drugs.
   * Those adjudicated as mental defectives or incompetents or those committed to any mental institution.
   * Illegal aliens.
   * Citizens who have renounced their citizenship.
   * Those persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces.
   * Persons less than 18 years of age for the purchase of a shotgun or rifle.
   * Persons less than 21 years of age for the purchase of a firearm that is other than a shotgun or rifle.
   * Persons subject to a court order that restrains such persons from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner.
   * Persons convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Persons under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year are ineligible to receive, transport, or ship any firearm or ammunition. Under limited conditions, relief from disability may be obtained from the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, or through a pardon, expungement, restoration of rights, or setting aside of a conviction.