Firearms Denied after Domestic Violence Charge

When a person is convicted of a domestic violence charge or the responded in an order of protection case, he or she may be stripped of the legal right to own firearms. However, there may be situations that may provide for the restoration of those gun rights.

Criminal Case

Some states prohibit a person from possessing a firearm after being convicted of any felony. Similarly, they may prohibit a person from possessing a firearm if he or she was convicted of a misdemeanor involving domestic violence or other types of violence. Some states do not permit a person to ever have these rights restored, such as if they commit a sex offense, homicide, robbery or other type of violent crime. Others require the person to wait a certain number of years after the conviction or after he or she has satisfied the conditions of release.

Mental Health Concerns

Some states strip a person of the right to possess a firearm if he or she has been involuntary committed for mental health treatment or found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity.

Order of Protection Case

Many states make it automatic that a person will be stripped of his or her gun ownership rights if he or she is a responded in an order of protection case. Order of protection cases are civil cases in nature. They can result even if there are not any criminal charges against the alleged perpetrator of domestic violence. Typically, a person cannot possess a firearm if he or she was given notice of the order of protection hearing, the order of protection case involved the harassment, threatening of an intimate partner or relative or stalking of the victim and the hearing concludes that the victim should be protected from the alleged perpetrator.