So you have a domestic assault conviction for causing bodily harm to a romantic partner or a person to whom you are acting as a parent. Your gun rights are gone for life under the federal Lautenberg amendment, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). How to fix this? Some mistakenly believe they can file a petition in district court to restore the right...
In order to restore gun rights following a felony conviction for a crime of violence in Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 609.165, Subd. 1d states a person must demonstrate good cause to restore rights. What is good cause? The only published, precedential case on this area of law is State v. Averbeck, 791 N.W.2d 559, 561 (Minn. App. 2010). In determining...
In March 2013, the Minnesota Legislature was in legislative session following the December 2012 attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, in which 20 children ages six and seven were killed by a gunman. In response, there was a proposal in the Minnesota Senate to abolish Minn. Stat. 609.165, Subd. 1d, which allows persons convicted of or adjudicated delinquent...
Whether right or wrong, sometimes victims of domestic assault do not want their assailants to incur criminal charges and consequences. Police investigate these situations and provide their reports to prosecutors. It is prosecutors, and only prosecutors, who make decisions on whether to charge an individual with a crime, and how to resolve, dispose, or try a case. A prosecutor is...
Currently, persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence are prohibited from possessing firearms for three years from the date of conviction under Minnesota law, but prohibited for life under federal law. What is a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence and what is not? The first is to ensure the offense resulted in an actual conviction. Stays of adjudication,...
On April 24, 2017, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the definition of “carry” with regards to Minnesota Statute § 624.7142, Carrying While Under Influence of Alcohol or Controlled Substance, includes transporting an unloaded pistol in an enclosed case. State v. Larson, No. A16-1538 (Minn. Ct. App. April 24, 2017). Bryan Larson was arrested for the misdemeanor offense of...
Once someone has had their right to possess firearms restored in state court, often there is another step needed of notifying the FBI that the person is no longer prohibited from possessing firearms. Prohibited persons are usually listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as ineligible to purchase and possess firearms. Most often, if a state restores...
On Wednesday, October 19th, 2016, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the plain meaning of a “firearm” does not include a BB gun in State v. Haywood. This decision reverses Minnesota law dating back to 1977 that a BB gun is indeed a firearm. David Haywood was driving in downtown St. Paul on January 1, 2013, when he was stopped...
It has become increasingly difficult over the past few years to restore the right to possess firearms following a misdemeanor domestic assault conviction. The State of Minnesota prohibits any person convicted of a misdemeanor domestic assault from possessing a firearm for three years following the date of conviction. But federally, a person convicted of a domestic assault has a lifetime...
This past 2016 legislative session, the Minnesota Legislature proposed a measure that would have required persons convicted of a felony crime of violence to petition the court of original conviction in order to restore gun rights. Currently in Minnesota, there are no jurisdiction requirements for where a petition to restore the right to possess firearms must be filed. Petitioners can...
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