Background check question

[Royinmontco]

Ah okay, thanks!



Nope, never had a dui just drove on a suspended license a lot and got caught a lot too. I*ve stopped now for the past couple years and I*m working on getting my license back but just have to wait to be eligible, and part of the reason for not getting rid of the warrant is that I don*t want more suspension added on that would mess up my chance of getting my license back.

How did it get suspended to begin with?

[MartinBrody]

My "not a lawyer" opinion is that having an outstanding warrant makes you a "fugitive from justice", so you should either check "yes" on Form 4473 21 (d), which will stop the sale, or be aware that you are lying on the form, and may be subject to both denial when the warrant is found, and subsequent prosecution for lying on the form.

Also not a lawyer, but if you read the description of a fugitive from justice on the back of the 4473 says this, which indicates to me you are only a fugitive from justice if you have fled the state.

“Question 21.d. Fugitive from Justice: Any person who has fled from any State
to avoid prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor; or any person who leaves the State to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding. The term also includes any person who knows that misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against such person and who leaves the State of prosecution.”

[Jabes]

How did it get suspended to begin with?

I think it started by something like a ticket for not having my car inspected or something like that and then I didn*t respond to it in time and my license got a temporary suspension and then I got caught driving with no license a few more times and that added more suspensions so by the time I was trying to fight them I had already screwed myself up. This was almost 10 years ago that the process started of me not having a drivers license.

Also not a lawyer, but if you read the description of a fugitive from justice on the back of the 4473 says this, which indicates to me you are only a fugitive from justice if you have fled the state.

*Question 21.d. Fugitive from Justice: Any person who has fled from any State
to avoid prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor; or any person who leaves the State to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding. The term also includes any person who knows that misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against such person and who leaves the State of prosecution.*

I*m pretty sure they*re just summary offenses though since it was just driving with a suspended license and an operating a vehicle without inspection charge. So it seems like they wouldn*t fall under the misdemeanor or felony categories.

[gnbrotz]

Also not a lawyer, but if you read the description of a fugitive from justice on the back of the 4473 says this, which indicates to me you are only a fugitive from justice if you have fled the state.

*Question 21.d. Fugitive from Justice: Any person who has fled from any State
to avoid prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor; or any person who leaves the State to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding. The term also includes any person who knows that misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against such person and who leaves the State of prosecution.*

Good catch.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Why not just pay the tickets ?

[abner13]

Habitual disregard for the law?

[Big Kahuna 19547]

You do realize that the tickets you're ignoring are still adding years onto your suspension. PennDOT will add it onto driving record, for failure to respond to those citations. They already have probably done so. The warrants are only you playing chicken with the county jail system and the police. https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs...n=33&subsctn=0

[57springer]

Why not just pay the tickets ?

Yea really.

[GunLawyer001]

PA law prohibits anyone with an outstanding warrant from owning firearms, unless it's a summary traffic underlying offense. Driving with a suspended license multiple times can be a summary, or it can be an M3. A warrant for an M3 is a state prohibitor.

[Jabes]

It*s just a summary offense but the 2 remaining tickets happened awhile ago and even lawyers that I*ve talked to have told me to just leave them alone until I can get my license back because there*s a better chance that once I have my license back that the officer or judge will see that I*m just working to get back on the road legally and then lower or drop the ticket that can cause a longer suspension if I respond to it right now.

I don*t have any plans to go buy a gun with the warrant for a summary offense but I was just curious if anybody here has had experience with somebody purchasing a gun in pa with a warrant for a summary offense.

I guess it*s just one of those things that you think about when your license is suspended until 2037 with a chance of getting a probationary license in 2023 after 6 years of not driving with 20+ driving on a suspended license charges. Yeah it was stupid to keep doing but while not having any other way to get to work easily and not driving drunk or recklessly I thought it was the only way to get to work when I couldn*t get another ride to work. I*ve finally been able to figure out how to get rides to work and am no longer driving though.