Denied my carry permit - help?

[JDEarms]

Hey guys, this is my first post here...glad to be a member!

Not sure how detailed I get here but I'm looking for help and suggestions so I'm going to give some details.

About 15 yrs ago I was in a conflict where an individual approached me with a small knife and I pulled my firearm on him. At that time, I had my carrying permit. We both left the scene and I was contacted by the police and was charged later with a harsh sentence. The felonies were dropped and was left with one or two misdemeanors. I was young and felt my life was endangered, the other party denied having a knife. It was wrong that I was even charged due to the circumstances but the other party had a great lawyer and made it look like I was irresponsible.

So fast forward to today. I've been wanting to get my carrying permit again, applied and received a denial for an "undisclosed reason." I'm assuming it was because of this.

My questions are:
Is there anyway I can hire a lawyer to try to have this case brought back up and possibly have it expunged?

If I can't get my permit to carry, will they even let me purchase a handgun?

If I'm not able to purchase a handgun, can I still purchase a rifle and/or a shotgun?


Any guidence on how I need to proceed is much appreciated!

[OldSchoolPC]

Undisclosed reason? I am looking forward to the responses to this!

[OldSchoolPC]

Some misdemeanors are disqualifying. What were they SPECIFICALLY?

[twency]

Hey guys, this is my first post here...glad to be a member!

Not sure how detailed I get here but I'm looking for help and suggestions so I'm going to give some details.

About 15 yrs ago I was in a conflict where an individual approached me with a small knife and I pulled my firearm on him. At that time, I had my carrying permit. We both left the scene and I was contacted by the police and was charged later with a harsh sentence. The felonies were dropped and was left with one or two misdemeanors. I was young and felt my life was endangered, the other party denied having a knife. It was wrong that I was even charged due to the circumstances but the other party had a great lawyer and made it look like I was irresponsible.

So fast forward to today. I've been wanting to get my carrying permit again, applied and received a denial for an "undisclosed reason." I'm assuming it was because of this.

My questions are:
Is there anyway I can hire a lawyer to try to have this case brought back up and possibly have it expunged?

If I can't get my permit to carry, will they even let me purchase a handgun?

If I'm not able to purchase a handgun, can I still purchase a rifle and/or a shotgun?


Any guidence on how I need to proceed is much appreciated!

Are you saying the sheriff's letter actually said the reason was an "undisclosed reason"? If so the sheriff is breaking the law.

18 Pa.C.S. § 6109: Licenses
...
(g) Grant or denial of license.--Upon the receipt of an application for a license to carry a firearm, the sheriff shall, within 45 days, issue or refuse to issue a license on the basis of the investigation under subsection (d) and the accuracy of the information contained in the application. If the sheriff refuses to issue a license, the sheriff shall notify the applicant in writing of the refusal and the specific reasons. The notice shall be sent by certified mail to the applicant at the address set forth in the application.
...

Your first step is to promptly contact the sheriff and demand to know the reason for the denial.

[Curmudgeon]

According to PA law...

18 Pa.C.S. § 6109: Licenses...

(g) Grant or denial of license.--Upon the receipt of an application for a license to carry a firearm, the sheriff shall, within 45 days, issue or refuse to issue a license on the basis of the investigation under subsection (d) and the accuracy of the information contained in the application. If the sheriff refuses to issue a license, the sheriff shall notify the applicant in writing of the refusal and the specific reasons. The notice shall be sent by certified mail to the applicant at the address set forth in the application.

From here... http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/...6109/licenses/

Was your denial in the form of a certified letter? If the reason for the denial was non-specific, have you contacted the Sheriff about this?

I can't find the statute yet,but I believe you have 30 days to appeal the denial.


ETA... too slow.
.

[10PointHunter]

What were the misdemeanors for? I know for a fact that any misdemeanor charge of domestic violence makes you ineligible to purchase firearms, as well as to carry them (obviously), but thats not the case here. It would help to know exactly what the offenses were and what degree they were. Anyway, you could appeal OR hire a lawyer and see if you could somehow get those records expunged since it seems that you were involved in a legitimate SD situation.

[capitolcop]

What were the misdemeanors for? I know for a fact that any misdemeanor charge of domestic violence makes you ineligible to purchase firearms, as well as to carry them (obviously), but thats not the case here. It would help to know exactly what the offenses were and what degree they were. Anyway, you could appeal OR hire a lawyer and see if you could somehow get those records expunged since it seems that you were involved in a legitimate SD situation.

That's quite an assumption without any details.

[ImminentDanger]

Your first step is to promptly contact the sheriff and demand to know the reason for the denial.

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ AND DO IT IMMEDIATELY.....

Then, use the resources here at PAFOA (or elsewhere on the internet) to explore the exact charges of which you were found guilty and see if they match the charges that are prohibiting in the License Statute....

From here... http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/...6109/licenses/

...

[JDEarms]

Are you saying the sheriff's letter actually said the reason was an "undisclosed reason"? If so the sheriff is breaking the law.


Your first step is to promptly contact the sheriff and demand to know the reason for the denial.

Yes, that is exactly what the letter said.

So I called the Sheriff office back and demanded to know exactly why I was refused. The lady seemed very frustrated, like she's explained this a million times before, that it wasn't them that denied me but the PA State police. I need to contact them by filling out my challenge form, send it to the PA State Police and they'll respond back as to why I was denied.

[JDEarms]

According to PA law...

From here... http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/...6109/licenses/

Was your denial in the form of a certified letter? If the reason for the denial was non-specific, have you contacted the Sheriff about this?

I can't find the statute yet,but I believe you have 30 days to appeal the denial.


ETA... too slow.
.

Yes, they sent me a letter in the mail and the same exact one by certified. Your right, I can send a "challenge" appeal to the State Police to appeal it within 30 days.