Update on NICS appeal

[cpuckett812]

Well, just wanted to give an update on my NICS appeal, and be a small piece of the big puzzle others in the same situation are trying to piece together. I sent in my appeal back in early September, and the wait continues.

Never been charged with a felony, anything violent or domestic, honorably discharged veteran of the USN, no warrants, etc. etc. The reason I was given for the denial, was that I apparently am a unlawful user of illegal narcotics! I had a couple MJ possession charges around 8 - 10 years ago, less than a 1/2 g each time resulting in a simple fine. I called my friends at the FBI every 3 or 4 weeks to check on their progress. The storyline went from "We're pretty busy and haven't gotten to your case yet" to "somebody's working on it" about 2 -3 months ago, and the last time I called about a month ago, I was told that there was no need for me to call, because it wouldn't speed up anything, and that someone was working on it, and they would contact ME when they were finished.

I plan on calling them tomorrow, and see what answer I get this time, just for curiosities sake. I cant help but wonder what their logic is here. Do they hope we'll just forget about it and fade off into the ether, or are they hoping they can stall as many of us as possible until they slip some more laws in like they did with the Veterans Disarmament Act? Its not that I don't already have firearms I lawfully purchased prior to this fiasco, or that I cant buy one out of the message board or from a neighbor. Its the fact that it only took some pencil neck 3 days to rip my rights away, that at very best was based on their mistake, but now they've had 7 months and my damn fingerprints and I cant get an answer.

If I was in the wrong, they would have shut me down a long time ago, but the fact they're still "working on it" just makes me suspicious as hell of what's really going on.

 

[JohnBT]

"some pencil neck"

Nice.

Do you think name calling will speed things up?

 

[lobo9er]

You should probably get a lawyer. I had similar problem with a pistol permit. Took some leg work, $, and paper work, but I got my name "cleared". It sux that we have to pay for a lawyer to get equal rights in the court system, but its how things are now so might as well play along.

 

[Bluehawk]

If you had been convicted of drug possession, how is it they are in the wrong for denying you?
Am I missing something here??

 

[Bubbles]

Depends on if the convictions were misdemeanors or felonies, and how many. One misdemeanor conviction over five years ago won't DQ you, but several will very likely cause a "habitual offender" flag, and a felony is pretty much a permanent disqualifier.

 

[Bluehawk]

First you said:

My record contains 1 MJ >1/2 oz. in March of 2003, June 2004, and April 2006. Less than a joints worth of MJ was found at any of these.

Then you changed your story to:

I had a couple MJ possession charges around 8 - 10 years ago, less than a 1/2 g each time

Half an ounce is hardly less than a joints worth...it's several joints worth!!! One half ounce is about 14 grams...so which did you have...1/2 oz or 1/2 gram??
You also said it was 8-10 years ago when in fact you admitted that the last possession was just shy of five years.
I suspect you are not being totally upfront about all this.

 

[Davek1977]

In many states, possession penalities are broken down by weight. For example"marijuana possession, less than 1/2 oz" may be how the charge READS, but ANY detectable amount would qualify for the charge. In SD, for example, one must possess two oz in order to face felony charges. You can be charged with "MISD possession of less than two ozs" while anything over 2 ozs is a felony (the degree of which is again determined by weight)

 

[joeq]

Moral of the story, don't do drugs. Kind of hard to blame the government when you have knowingly broken the law several times.

 

[rbernie]

Moral of the story, don't do drugs. Kind of hard to blame the government when you have knowingly broken the law several times.

Not breaking the law is always the best advice, but that line of discussion opens up a whole can of worms WRT the legitimacy of the laws being broken.

And we're not going to debate that sort of thing on THR.

 

[dogtown tom]

cpuckett812 ....I cant help but wonder what their logic is here.

Uhhh..........like uphold the requirements of Federal law. You got denied and then appealed....NICS appeals take time and the "logic" is that the FBI needs time to research records that may have not been submitted in full by the reporting agency or court.

Its not that I dont already have firearms I lawfully purchased prior to this fiasco,

Firearms you acquired while you were using illegal drugs? Then you lied on the Form 4473. You might want to watch what you post on the internet..........you are digging a deeper hole for yourself.

Its the fact that it only took some pencil neck 3 days to rip my rights away, that at very best was based on their mistake, but now theyve had 7 months and my damn fingerprints and I cant get an answer. If I was in the wrong, they would have shut me down a long time ago...

Pencil neck? How would you describe yourself? You know the one that got busted with an illegal drug? I can think of several words.
Don't blame the FBI for YOUR decision to use illegal drugs.
The FBI didn't put the drugs in your hands.
The FBI didn't plead guilty and pay a fine.
The FBI didn't pass a law barring illegal drug users from acquiring firearms.
The FBI didn't pass the Brady Law requiring a background check.
The FBI didn't submit those court records showing you to be a user of illegal drugs.

The FBI does get to research criminal records that may not be computerized and not in their possession. That takes time.

 

[xcgates]

Regardless of why, I've found that relentless, respectful pestering is the only way to get results out of a government agency.

So keep bugging them, but refrain from insults.

 

[cskny]

I suspect you are not being totally upfront about all this.

Sadly, this seems to be the case with many of the 'victim' posts here in legal

 

[kingpin008]

I'm generally in agreement with the rest here - this situation is the direct result of your poor decision making.

That said, it would be nice to get an answer - which leads me to my next thought. STOP CALLING AND CHECKING UP ON THEM. If you're calling as often as you say you are, they're likely sick of you and have been putting your name on the bottom of the list every time you call in to spite you. They have the lion's share of the power here, and they know it. Ease back, let them do their jobs, or hire a lawyer and bug them in a way that means something.

Other than that, consider it a good lesson. Being stupid and doing drugs can cost you.

 

[25cschaefer]

I was just watching the Outdoor Channel and there was an add for www.shredmyrecord.com they claim they can scrub your criminal record so that you will never be denied a job. Maybe this would work for you.

 

[withdrawn34]

At this point, unless you want to get a lawyer, there isn't much you can do, from what I see.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I dont know how someone who can legally own a gun cannot buy one from an FFL.

Or since he was denied, he now can no longer own a firearm?

 

[SlowIsSmoothIsFast]

dumb

 

[Gouranga]

dang this thread went a bit dark.

So my .02,

1. Do not harass them as you are. They hold the power, you hold none. Ticking them off may extend the delay. You are better maybe checking on them every other week. When you do call be polite, ask if there is any other information you can provide, etc but be diplomatic. Nobody likes to play the game but you have no choice, if you are going to play the game get good at playing it. Consider this, the longer you wait the longer the time between the conviction and the current time and the better the chance of winning the appeal.

2. Agree or disagree with the law, it IS the law. You broke the law. Yeah you did not murder someone, I would not classify you as a threat to society based on the convictions you listed, but you broke the law and these are the repercussions of that act. You broke it not once but 3 times and I would guess while you were caught 3 times, you have broken that particular law many more times.

3. Think of this from the perspective of the "pencil neck". The program likely goes through thousands of individual records a day. They do not know you. They know nothing about you. They don't know if you are a good guy a toked out hippie, etc. They know the law says to look for specific charges, and they know your record threw up flags. Their job is to obey the law and deny the NICS check. The system is then set up for such borderline records to be settled through the appeal process. If you put me in his place with his job and I had a record which showed a continued and habitual disregard for drug laws, yeah I would flag you. It is his job.


My last advise, IF you want to continue the way you are going, get a lawyer. You have no way of leveraging any pressure on these guys. You simply have no authority with them. A lawyer may or may not help you but you know what you are doing right now will not help you so shake it up and try something different.

 

[rbernie]

Consider this a second warning for off-topic rants about the legitimacy/lack thereof for the laws in question. The next time that I have to delete a bunch of off topic posts from folk that could not practice basic self-restraint, I will follow that up with a few infractions and short vacations for the transgressors.

You are adults. Act like it, please.

 

[xcgates]

Okay, maybe Gouranga is more right than me, pestering was a poor word to choose.

However, I am in the military, and just today I had to re-submit a form for the third time this month to get something done. Each time I cc someone higher up the food chain so they see a pattern developing.

I also started my own campain with another department to get some work done in our lab, after one of "my" civilians, and one of "my" enlisted (I'm not their supervisor/boss, but work closely with them) couldn't get anything rolling.

Don't let yourself get lost in the shuffle.

 

[leadcounsel]

The big reason that people should fear Government lists....

 

[rfurtkamp]

Contact your Senator and sign the waivers allowing their office to look into your problem.

A call from Senator X's office, assuming you're in a gun-friendly state, should get things moving.

 

[FruitCake]

Here in CT is the same thing. Any misdeamenors of possesion of a controlled substance or Domestic will disqualify you.
I have first hand experience in this matter. About 17 years ago in my foolish teenage years I was caught with a Joint and arrested and charged with a misdeamenor possesion and charged $100 fine. When I went for my permit I got a DISQUALIFIED from pistol permit. I applied for a Pardon through the state and about 1 year later received my pardon.
And 2 months later received my permit.
Huge process but well worth it.
Lesson learned.

 

[Quoheleth]

The way I was reading his post, until I read all of the posts following, is that the OP is innocent.

When NICS ran his check, his records were crossed with someone else who has these drug charges ("apparantly I am a drug user..."). This would also explain how he has his "facts" mixed up --- they aren't his!

That's how I was reading it.

Q

 

[Gouranga]

I believe he was actually guilty of the MJ possession charges but questioned that he was labeled "an unlawful user of illegal narcotics" and denied NICS for those charges.

His issues appeared to be they were misdemeanor charges for possession not felony possession or dealing charges and that they happened long enough ago that they should not have resulted in a denial.

So if what the OP is saying is how you were hearing it (that he was not guilty of the charges and they crossed someone elses record with his), then that would be a whole different ball of wax but his statement "I had a couple MJ possession charges around 8 - 10 years ago" and goes on to say he got a simple fine for them, suggests to me he absolutely did the crime.

Bear in mind also Quohelth the mods have had to heavily modify/remove posts that were originally here because of tangents that went into disagreements on the validity of the law (not good) vs. the discussion as to how the OP should/could get through his appeals process with a favorable outcome.