45 minutes ago (now an hour, I AM long-winded), there was a knock at my apartment door. I live in the eastern time zone, so like 6:45. It’s dark. My son was alarmed at a tall stranger at the door. I’m obviously wondering “WTF?” as I wasn’t expecting anyone other than my oldest son, but he was at work and has a key to let himself in anyway.
It was an ATF agent, and he was here to confiscate my Ruger .22 Mark IV I had bought in mid October. I have bought two other firearms from this same dealer (although this most recent purchase of the .22 was just a background check and a fee since I bought it online, and I also do not own the previous two firearms anymore) and it was always the same story: “Well, there’s a delay. If I don’t hear from them in five days I’ll call you and you can come and pick up your gun.” Five days, no call back from the FBI (or apparently the ATF), went and got my gun at the call. I hadn’t even fired it yet, and had kitted it out with an expensive scope, a shiny silver muzzle brake and a ring-collar for the slide. Sigh. The whole purpose of this purchase was for my sons and I to go to the range or an acceptable outside place and have some fun and bond. I am a single Dad with an 18 year old senior and a 14 year old 8th grader. I felt it would be a good way for us to do something together outside of our cramped apartment in the dead of winter. And home defense in a pinch should that ever be necessary.
The agent and I had a discussion about my options which isn’t really relevant here.
What is is the reason. In 2004, I was convicted of a misdemeanor battery charge against my then-girlfriend, now ex-wife for slapping her. She was literally attacking me, trying to gouge my eyes…eh…none of that matters. I slapped her, and admitted it to the two fine officers that showed up that night informing us that one of us would be going to jail. So that guy was me. I owned instead of blaming her for attacking me because my oldest son was a toddler in the other room at the time, I was doing a quick mental calculus of whom needed whom more at that moment, and my former step-daughter (some of you may recall my thread about her heroin addiction…if someone were gracious enough to find that, would like to re-read not-sober-me during a crisis, BTW) was present.
Her being present turned out to be the crux of the matter. That particular type of “domestic violence with child present” carries more weight than I guess your run-of-the-mill battery charge, which is what I thought I was convicted of. And probably mis-remembered. It was 16 years ago.
But…I WAS guilty of that. That DID happen. And then now so did this as a result. Thought it’d be an interesting share on the old Doperino. Your thoughts?
That’s too bad that it happened. I wonder why the previous purchases weren’t flagged.
In some states, so I’ve heard anyway, depending on the nature of the conviction, it’s possible to have full rights restored, with a little investment of $ of course. Is that a possibility for you, where you are? Not asking if it’s likely, just if it’s something that’s possible.
I am relaxed. The agent was cool enough I guess (intimated that he didn’t give a shit what happened to the ownership of the weapon as long as it wasn’t ME), looked the part, etc. It was the LAST thing I expected at my front door, so you can imagine my surprise.
Cool. If ATF, FBI or any other important letters came to my door, I would also be VERY surprised. As in “Huh? Say again? Whatsit whom?”. Stay cool, make a few phone calls tomorrow or the next day.
IANAL, but it sounds as if the OP is a “prohibited person” and is not allowed to own or handle any cartridge firearms. However, I believe that in some states he may be able to possess black powder firearms as they are considered “antique” and not covered by the 1968 GCA.
The FBI database has been getting much more complete in recent years. Lots of jurisdictions have been submitting more records to the FBI, so even if prior searches were done, the old case may not have been in the database at the time.
Same thing happened to a friend of mine 12 years ago. Wife was beating him up… scratching him, kicking him, throwing things at him, etc. He finally punched her. She called the police. When the police arrive they interviewed them separately. She said she never touched him. He was honest and said he hit her. He was convicted of DV and can no longer touch a firearm.
You need to look into expungement or record sealing, depending on state. Not just for your second amendment rights but any other stuff that might show up on your record. There will likely be a financial investment, but it can be small court fees and you can do it yourself, or you may need to lawyer up, state and municipality again depending.
This has been educational. The agent (still can’t believe one showed up at my apartment) told me that I can go to the courthouse where I was convicted and try to get the charge amended, which he said would definitely take into account with any criminal behavior since then. And I have that life-saving/changing DUI in 2017, so I suspect my prospects are grim of ever buying a gun again.
And like another poster mentioned, I really wonder what would have happened if I refused to open the door, or just not answer it at all. When I did open it and I was made aware of what he was there for, he had informed me that he had tried to catch me a couple times earlier and that he felt showing up at almost 7PM was preferable (for me) to him banging on the door at 6AM.
Jesus, this sucks. I feel emasculated in some way I can’t quite define.
That’s what my friend said to me but I don’t think that me refusing to acknowledge the presence of a federal agent while in possession of a technically illegal firearm that he was there to confiscate would have ended well for me.