Expert: Dan Haynes - 2/17/2011

Question
You have been asked this question before, but you never actually ANSWER it! Specifically, can the right to bear arms be restored in the State of Pennsylvania after you plead guilty to an ungraded felony. I fully understand WHAT an ungraded felony is and the penalties of prison and fines. My question is simple and straight forward, YES or NO; can the right to bear arms be restored or not with an ungraded felony on your record in Pennsylvania? and if so; specifically what is the procedure?

The pending charge is in Monroe County Pennsylvania and I am considering pleading guilty to an ungraded felony, however, as an avid hunter of 30+ years, with a large number of hunting, rifles, shotguns, and hunting pistols, I will fight the charge in court if there is no hope of restoring my right to bear arms (hunt)if I plead to the ungraded felony.

Please be as specific as you can. I have asked my own attorney and he very honestly told me he does not know the answer. He is a good criminal lawyer, however, he is not familiar with laws pertaining to civil rights.

Please answer my question as soon as possible so I know if I should plead guilty or fight the charge and hope for the best.

Trudy

Answer
Trudy,

Thanks for asking. If you read my bio you will see that I am not a lawyer or an attorney. I did find this information:

Pennsylvania Misdemeanor and Felony Charges

Check out this website:

http://www.pennsylvania-criminal-defense.com/pacriminalcharges.htm

Under Pennsylvania Criminal Laws, crimes and penalties are categorized as either Felonies or Misdemeanors, with 3 subclasses of each.  Felonies are broken into Felony 1 (F1), Felony 2 (F2), Felony 3 (F3), and likewise, Misdemeanor 1 (M1), Misdemeanor 2 (M2), and Misdemeanor 3 (M3), and there is also a category of Summary Offenses.

There are also unclassified/ungraded felonies, and unclassified/ungraded misdemeanors (such as 1st offense DUI charges). Some crimes have penalties that vary from strict adherence to these classifications, so please call for a consultation to discuss exactly what you may be facing in the worse case, and what is the realistic most likely outcome.

IMHO:
Let's forget about Pennsylvania firearms laws for a moment. Under Federal Firearm laws convicted felons can not own firearms. You have two options to clear your record:
1: File to expunge your record.
2: File for a full pardon.

This may require legal help. It does not matter what state your felony occurs in because of the federal law for firearms ownership.

Best regards,

Dan