Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
My question involves criminal records for the state of: Mississippi / Florida
Trying to find out if it is legal for me to have a firearm for hunting in Florida, which is where I live. Got in some trouble in Mississippi while going to college 16 years ago. Plead to 3 years with 2 suspended, so really only sentenced to 1 year (burglary of an occupied dwelling), wound up doing 10 months and 11 days. The Florida statue says it is illegal for someone to posses a gun if they were "Found guilty of an offense that is a felony in another state, territory, or country and which was punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year." I was not imprisoned for a term exceeding 1 year so I'm not clear how this would go? Any help or advice is appreciated.
Re: Own a Gun in Florida with Felony from Mississippi
But it was, in fact, punishable by more than 1 year. It doesn't say for which you were sentenced to less than 1 year or served less than 1 year.
Re: Own a Gun in Florida with Felony from Mississippi
Federal law also applies. You are not allowed to have possession of a gun if you have a felony conviction or any crime where the max punishment is two years.
Re: Own a Gun in Florida with Felony from Mississippi
No you were sentenced to three and 2 were suspended. The short answer is no you can not own a gun anywhere in the US.
Re: Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
Under federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)) it is illegal for any person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to ship, transport, possession, or receive any firearm or firearm ammunition. The term The term “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” does not include—
(A) any Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices, or
(B) 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.
18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)
Note the key word punishable that I emphasized. That term means that if the maximum penalty for the crime is imprisonment for more than one year (or two years if it is a state offense that the state calls a misdemeanor) then the person is prohibited from possessing any firearm or firearm ammunition under federal law even if the actual jail or prison sentence imposed was one year or less.
In your case, you plead to a burglary of an occupied dwelling charge in Georgia. Currently that is a state law felony offense subject to a term of imprisonment of no more than 20 years and no less than one year on a first offense. You plead guilty and took deal for a 3 year sentence, two of which were suspended with one year to serve and you got out a bit earlier than the one year (presumably for good time). The problem is that while your actual time in jail or prison was a bit over 10 months, the crime is punishable by a term of up to 20 years in prison, i.e. the court could have imposed a sentence of 20 years. The details of the max sentence for the crime may have been a bit different when you were sentenced years ago, but your sentence confirms that the crime was at least punishable by imprisonment for 3 years. That will prohibit you from possessing a firearm or firearm ammunition under federal law unless you get relief from that conviction (e.g. a pardon from Georgia’s governor, etc).
The Florida statute would appear to work much the same as the federal one. You were convicted of a felony in Georgia that was punishable (i.e. the max time the court could have imposed) by a term of imprisonment of more than one year.
In short, it is the max time the court could have imposed that counts here, not the actual time you ended up serving inside.
Re: Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
agreed with PayrolGuy. 3yrs imposed. No, you are not allowed, and in the event of a stop (even dui) the judge would come down harsh if in possession
Re: Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
A day late and a dollar short: what he was sentenced to is immaterial. He's not allowed because he was convicted of a crime with "punishable with a term of more a year" which due to some bizarre historical statutory construction can mean "having a maximum punishment of two years", however TWENTY (or even three) is right out.
Re: Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
Quote:
Quoting
flyingron
He's not allowed because he was convicted of a crime with "punishable with a term of more a year" which due to some bizarre historical statutory construction can mean "having a maximum punishment of two years", however TWENTY (or even three) is right out.
I think the reason the statute was written that way is that Congress wanted to give some allowance here for states like Pennsylvania that actually have misdemeanor crimes that can draw sentences of over one year. Within reason, if the state didn’t think the offense was a felony the thinking probably was that the feds shouldn't treat it that way either, but they were only willing to go so far with that — an extra year. The way it was written can lead to some confusion and it certainly could have been done better than they did. It was probably due to the way the bill worked through Congress and how various amendments got tacked in there.
Re: Can You Own a Gun in Florida With an Out-of-State Felony Conviction
I didn't have any problem with the intent. It was just an observation that they replaced "felony" with "penalties exceeding a year" and then went back and revised "penalties to exceed one year" meaning "two years." The law is sometimes obtuse.