Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Awhile back, I was charged with 3rd degree Theft of Service, which they are claiming I restored gas service to my residence. I am currently in a 586 settlement, which means after it is paid off, the case will be dismissed. I then planned to have the record expunged when I found out that even though the record is expunged, my civil rights could possibly have been removed. I currently have a public defender and personally, they have no clue. This is not a violent crime and I was never incarcerated as I have never been in trouble in my life and I didnt even do this. What a kick in the head, hunh? My husband and I now see a need for a gun in the house as I am now all around gun violence by guns being carried by people as young as 14. Further, I was told that if I am unable to have a gun, I cannot even be in a house where a gun is located, which means, my husband buying and registering a gun is not available to us either as I obviously live in the same house. I cannot believe this. Please help, we really need protection in our home as these shootings are getting really close and where I live, there is no police patrol.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Quote:
Originally Posted by
badd302
Awhile back, I was charged with 3rd degree Theft of Service, which they are claiming I restored gas service to my residence. I am currently in a 586 settlement, which means after it is paid off, the case will be dismissed. I then planned to have the record expunged when I found out that even though the record is expunged, my civil rights could possibly have been removed. I currently have a public defender and personally, they have no clue. This is not a violent crime and I was never incarcerated as I have never been in trouble in my life and I didnt even do this. What a kick in the head, hunh? My husband and I now see a need for a gun in the house as I am now all around gun violence by guns being carried by people as young as 14. Further, I was told that if I am unable to have a gun, I cannot even be in a house where a gun is located, which means, my husband buying and registering a gun is not available to us either as I obviously live in the same house. I cannot believe this. Please help, we really need protection in our home as these shootings are getting really close and where I live, there is no police patrol.
Next time ask them to provide you with a statutory reference to the bolded section. I'm not aware of anything, but I'm not a lawyer. You would not be allowed to "have access" to or handle said firearm only because your felony makes you a prohibited person. Also, there is no gun registry in Pennsylvania, only a registry of sales.
I have a question, though, were you convicted, or did you plead guilty? You need to talk to your lawyer about him or finding another lawyer who knows how to go through the steps to restore your gun rights.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
OP if things were that bad gun or not I would move. Get the hell out before you get out in a Body bag! Then you have no option.....
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Quote:
Originally Posted by
9orangeletters
Next time ask them to provide you with a statutory reference to the bolded section. I'm not aware of anything, but I'm not a lawyer. You would not be allowed to "have access" to or handle said firearm only because your felony makes you a prohibited person. Also, there is no gun registry in Pennsylvania, only a registry of sales.
I have a question, though, were you convicted, or did you plead guilty? You need to talk to your lawyer about him or finding another lawyer who knows how to go through the steps to restore your gun rights.
Your husband can have a gun in the house, you just can't have access to it. My boyfriend was prohibited for year by a PFA, so I had to make sure to keep my guns under lock and key, until it expired. It was a pain in the ass, but there was no way I was going to sleep in a home with no gun. Good luck with your case.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
If I understand correctly, you are under indictment for an F3 but are seeking a court dismissal of charges under Pa.R.Crim.P. 586. You have been neither convicted nor plead guilty.
Until that indictment is dismissed, you are Federally prohibited from '[receiving] any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce'.
Assuming that neither you nor your husband have any other Federal or state prohibiting records, I not aware of any laws that prohibit his firearm purchases.
As to them being in your house, there is a gray area in my mind as to the distinction in Federal law between 'receive' and 'possess'. I interpret the 'receive' to be more of a physical transfer (an acquisition by you) to the exclusion of constructive possession (accessible to you). If correct, then your husband's firearms could be stored in the house without further precautions. A safer way to avoid this uncertainty would be to store them in the house under 'lock and key' such that you do not have access to them.
Something you could explore with an attorney - I just giving a layman's opinion; not legal advice.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Quote:
Originally Posted by
tl_3237
If I understand correctly, you are under indictment for an F3 but are seeking a court dismissal of charges under Pa.R.Crim.P. 586. You have been neither convicted nor plead guilty.
Until that indictment is dismissed, you are Federally prohibited from '[receiving] any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce'.
Assuming that neither you nor your husband have any other Federal or state prohibiting records, I not aware of any laws that prohibit his firearm purchases.
As to them being in your house, there is a gray area in my mind as to the distinction in Federal law between 'receive' and 'possess'. I interpret the 'receive' to be more of a physical transfer (an acquisition by you) to the exclusion of construction possession (accessible to you). If correct, then your husband's firearms could be stored in the house without further precautions. A safer way to avoid this uncertainty would be to store them in the house under 'lock and key' such that you do not have access to them.
Something you could explore with an attorney - I just giving a layman's opinion; not legal advice.
I'm not a lawyer, but that is also how I read things to be.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
My advice....
Talk to a real lawyer.
Pay the gas company what you owe them.
If you actually did this....think hard before doing something like this again.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Thanks to most of you for giving your opinions. However, there were a couple people that were out of line and frankly, a mean statement. For the record, NO, I DID NOT DO THIS. I have never been in trouble before and I have a masters degree, something I worked very hard for and would never, NEVER risk anything that would not allow me to use this. And besides, I have no clue even how to do something like this even if I wanted to. When they came to my house and said I restored gas service, I told them to give me a minute as I had to put my rottweiler away, then when I returned to the door, they were gone. They never gave me a chance to show them I did not. And as for the REAL lawyer, several of you have suggested, frankly, I do not have the money as paying the restitution off and having two kids in college and general living expenses, it is not in the budget. But since I do civil law already, I will consult with a couple REAL lawyers and not this public defender who frankly, I have just been using as a mouthpiece as to how I wanted my case to go and so far, I have been doing ok. I just never knew all this before. So, to those of you who were nice and gave suggestions, thank you. And to those with the smart remarks, next time keep them to yourselves.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
I read back over the thread, and frankly, no one was mean to you. The one who suggested you move was making what he felt was a very sound piece of advice.
If you are going to stick around (and I hope you do!) please develop a little thicker skin. On a public forum, you will get all kinds of advice, and not all of it welcome. It's the nature of the beast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
badd302
Thanks to most of you for giving your opinions. However, there were a couple people that were out of line and frankly, a mean statement. For the record, NO, I DID NOT DO THIS. I have never been in trouble before and I have a masters degree, something I worked very hard for and would never, NEVER risk anything that would not allow me to use this. And besides, I have no clue even how to do something like this even if I wanted to. When they came to my house and said I restored gas service, I told them to give me a minute as I had to put my rottweiler away, then when I returned to the door, they were gone. They never gave me a chance to show them I did not. And as for the REAL lawyer, several of you have suggested, frankly, I do not have the money as paying the restitution off and having two kids in college and general living expenses, it is not in the budget. But since I do civil law already, I will consult with a couple REAL lawyers and not this public defender who frankly, I have just been using as a mouthpiece as to how I wanted my case to go and so far, I have been doing ok. I just never knew all this before. So, to those of you who were nice and gave suggestions, thank you. And to those with the smart remarks, next time keep them to yourselves.
Re: Restoration of Gun rights for 3rd Degree Felony Theft of Service
Thank you for your return comment, but Reverseboy was questioning whether I did it or not and someone else said not to post anything as fact when it isnt, it was things like that. I stated I was told this. And I got it from a Deputy Sheriff, I really figured he would know. I do have a thick skin, but it is really scary when these shootings happen right down the road from you. I get that call from a friend with a scanner and I am told to stay in my house as the shooter ran and I live right nearby, up in the woods. Several times, police have been on my road as people always run up into the woods. And my husband works like 7 to 7 and I am all alone, except my Rottweiler. So excuse me, but Im really upset about all this. I didnt do this, I am busting my ass to pay it all after finding it is hard to fight the almighty gas company and now I find out all this other stuff. I need kind suggestions, truth yes, but kind. I didnt think I was mean or anything when I wrote the post. I didnt do this, I help people all the time, volunteer in my community and you could smell the kerosine right from the door when the gas man knocked. I just want this to be all over, so I can go on with my life and use this masters degree officially. But thank you anyway and I hope you had a nice Christmas.
