Went to buy my first handgun and was stunned that I was denied. Decide to have my own FBI check done with fingerprints before I did anything else so I could find out what the problem was. The record check came back with a couple of failure to appears on traffic tickets, and a contributing to the delinquency, which I swear was dismissed but is shown as sentence suspended. I'd given a lift to the sister of a friend of mine and her two friends not knowing they had run away. I was 19 at the time of all of these charges. They are all misdemeanors. One other charge stuck out. A cannabis possession in the UK. It was literally grains in the screen of a pipe my sister-in-law was carrying. That was 1977 and I paid the equivalent of $50, though the sentence doesn't show on the FBI record. Just the arrest. Hell, I've paid more for parking tickets than that as a fine.
I thought that must be the reason for the denial as a "user of a controlled substance" and that, according to the UK government site, cannabis is a Class B drug with a penalty of up to 5 years and an unlimited fine. I don't know if the FBI considers that a felony or even know without looking it up what the penalty is in the UK.
I saw a thread on this site where several mentioned that such charges don't count after 1 year but the thread was from 2011. My question is, do I have grounds for appeal or does anybody happen to know if it's possible to get this dumb little charge off the record in the UK? Really seems daft that a 40 year old charge for possession of an insignificant amount of a substance that is now legal in one way or another in almost half the US would be deny me buying a handgun when mentally handicapped people can purchase with no problem now. Hell, I've paid more for parking tickets than that as a fine.
I thought that must be the reason for the denial as a "user of a controlled substance" and that, according to the UK government site, cannabis is a Class B drug with a penalty of up to 5 years and an unlimited fine. I don't know if the FBI considers that a felony or even know without looking it up what the penalty is in the UK.
I saw a thread on this site where several mentioned that such charges don't count after 1 year but the thread was from 2011. My question is, do I have grounds for appeal or does anybody happen to know if it's possible to get this dumb little charge off the record in the UK? Really seems daft that a 40 year old charge for possession of an insignificant amount of a substance that is now legal in one way or another in almost half the US would be deny me buying a handgun when mentally handicapped people can purchase with no problem now. Hell, I've paid more for parking tickets than that as a fine.
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