taking a felon shooting?

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

rustymaggot

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2005
Messages
838
ok, heres the situation. a friend who got into trouble 6 years ago wants to come out shooting. my question is if i would be breaking any laws letting her shoot with me. the guns would be mine and she would not be unsupervised.

edit: i am in california.
 
Last edited:
If she even so much as lays a finger on one she has broken the law. And so have you by allowing a felon to touch a gun.
 
I'd like to know the legality of this one also.

I've often heard felons aren't allowed to OWN guns. Maybe even heard the term "possess" firearms.

What's the actual law?

Mike
 
It'd be illegal, but it's kinda unenforcable and you're not likely to get caught at all.

As far as dumping her, so what, she has a felony. You dont have to kill someone to get a felony anymore. Selling a bootleg movie can make you a felon. She's probably a pretty good girl, we don't know her, so innocent until proven guilty.
 
Felons cant possess guns. Not under federal law, not under CA law. See 18 USC 922 (g).

As far as I can tell, mere ownership is not necessarily relevant, though many of the acts which would constitute taking ownership also constitute taking possession, either literally or constructively.

At the range, she is in possession because the gun is under her control. She could put it in her pocket, shoot another person at the range or run outside and rob someone. These sorts of evils are meant to be guarded against by sanctioning felon possession of weapons and it is to persons like her that the law clearly applies.

Knowingly providing her with the weapon is also a crime. Under federal and likely CA law.

Now if she came into the possession of the weapon because she was defending herself, there is caselaw suggesting that the concepts of necessity and self defense might excuse her temporary possession of it.
 
Take a careful look at that one, especially at the state level, and get an AG letter stating that she is legal. There have been a lot of state level surprises for felons in possession of blackpowder rifles. The text of the statute rarely lets you claim a mistake of law defense- you need an official letter saying that your specific gun is in the clear. Unless you want to go to jail of course.

edit- sorry, you can claim mistake of law, but you probably wont prevail.

For example, Florida's law APPEARS to state that any rifle with a primitive ignition system is ok, but this is not what the FL Supreme court held. Apparently only replicas of actual primitive rifles are legal for felons to possess- so putting a red-dot scope on a blackpowder gun, or using one with a synthetic stock would place you afoul of the law.
 
not leagle advice but

the use to be a gun range that allowed you to rent machine guns.
i asked them about the leaglaity of this they said that sience one of them was next to you on the firing line they still had effective control of the weapon. i do not know if this will apply to the situation you set forth.
 
"Possession" of machine guns and "possession" of firearms are defined differently in different sections of US Code. It is legal for someone who can legally possess firearms to shoot/handle another person's machine gun as long as the other person is supervising them, but that has no bearing on the fact that felons are legally prohibited from owning/using/touching firearms.
 
i think its humorous that people will automatically assume im dating the girl.

i read the 922g section and it says somthing about the felon having to have spent over a year in jail/prison. since my friend spent only 30 days in county, would that make her able to go shooting? or is there some other law saying that she cant shoot?

also, it is a private range. there will be no one else around besides others in our group of friends. no one around to get robbed or injured. doesnt matter anyway since the girl is not a screwup at present. she had a rough year way back 6 years ago and got involved in drugs and did some time for possession. she has been clean since then. she is in the process of having the felony reduced.
 
i think its humorous that people will automatically assume im dating the girl.

i read the 922g section and it says somthing about the felon having to have spent over a year in jail/prison. since my friend spent only 30 days in county, would that make her able to go shooting? or is there some other law saying that she cant shoot?

also, it is a private range. there will be no one else around besides others in our group of friends. no one around to get robbed or injured. doesnt matter anyway since the girl is not a screwup at present. she had a rough year way back 6 years ago and got involved in drugs and did some time for possession. she has been clean since then. she is in the process of having the felony reduced.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter if it's a private range or not, if your intent on going shooting with her then you have already made it known on a public forum which I'm sure LEO monitor. Until she has her felony reduced or expunged, then you are still breaking the law. Use your own judgement if you want to risk breaking the law or not or consult an attorney. Ignorance is not an excuse to break the law.
 
pilman, you misunderstand. it was said by someone above that taking a felon shooting might result in them hurting or robbing someone. i stated that there was no chance of that because no one else would be there.
 
laws

>>>As far as I can tell, mere ownership is not necessarily relevant<<<

this is true- there is a provision which states arms owned before felony can be sold - you dont have to turn them in, but you cant possess them. what i dont remember was any wording stating you MUST sell them, only that you could.

possesion or use is illegal, and that includes black powder.
im fairly sure fed laws also cover black powder though some states may allow it for felons, CA does not
heck in CA it includes a bunch of stuff. i think you can own in home but not carry outside pepper spray or stun guns either.
 
UGH, no knoledge

wow this is disturbing
i read the 922g section and it says somthing about the felon having to have spent over a year in jail/prison.
Click to expand...

obviously you are far from clear on what the term felon even means.

felon means convicted of a felony.

a felony is any crime punishable by over a year in jail.

THINK. no part of that says how long you were in.

felony is a class of law, not of jail time. you can get probation for a felony= or less even, a suspended sentence..... but you are a felon.

most(?) drunk drivers are felons and they get only probation (correct? fairly sure )

further=
If this friend is your girlfriend, dump her pronto.
Click to expand...

although that seems harsh, you do have one of two things on your hands-
a girl who is clueless enough to commit a moajor cirme without understanding the consequences
OR Worse, a crafty girl who knows exactly what she's doing and is not caring about how much trouble she's about to get you both into.
worth consideration
 
pilman, you misunderstand. it was said by someone above that taking a felon shooting might result in them hurting or robbing someone. i stated that there was no chance of that because no one else would be there.
Click to expand...

If a tree falls the forest, blah blah, blah....Its illegal, and since you said there was "no chance of that happening"..Thats when things really turn to ****. But jailhouse wedding are pretty cool....:rolleyes:
 
pilman, you misunderstand. it was said by someone above that taking a felon shooting might result in them hurting or robbing someone. i stated that there was no chance of that because no one else would be there.
Click to expand...
We seem to be having a dandy game of "Yes, but..."

If you are dead set on taking a felon shooting, go ahead and enjoy yourself.

Pilgrim
 
best bet would be (depending on what the felony was for) to try to get it expunged, which from what I hear is near imposable in C.A.
 
I may have done this once, I'm not sure.

He mighta mentioned something about not being allowed to possess in a different state while he woulda been picking up my S&W 4013. The loaded SBS woulda stayed in my hand with me facing him at any time he was touching a gun that day.

:eek: :(
 
rustymaggot said:
also, it is a private range. there will be no one else around besides others in our group of friends. no one around to get robbed or injured. doesnt matter anyway since the girl is not a screwup at present.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter to whom?

It should matter to you, because if you were caught you would be guilty of providing her a firearm. And it damned sure should matter to her, because if SHE gets caught the penalties for felons caught in possession of firearms are rather draconian. She would most certainly lose any possibility of having the first felony reduced or expunged, plus she would have a nice, shiny NEW felony added to her record. I suspect prison would be virtually automatic, perhaps even mandatory.

I think the gal needs a serious course in growing up and acting responsibly.
 
G. Gordon Liddy??

Now, I'm sure different states handle this differently, but..

I distinctly remember listening to G. about 7-8 years ago on the radio..
He mentioned he'd been shooting recently at a range.. In fact, he
talked about it a lot.. Someone in his family or an acquaintance
would bring firearms and he was allowed to shoot them, but only at the range..

Not sure what state that was, but I think it was near DC.. (VA?)

Later,
Steve
 
taking a felon shooting?

ok, heres the situation. a friend who got into trouble 6 years ago wants to come out shooting. my question is if i would be breaking any laws letting her shoot with me. the guns would be mine and she would not be unsupervised.

edit: i am in california.
Click to expand...

Are you sure she is a felon? You've said only that she "got into trouble" and, later, that she "spent 30 days in county." Doesn't sound like she did a felony to me. But that's not the real issue you need to consider.

The real issue is why you are asking this question of people you don't know and whose qualifications you can't evaluate. If she is a felon and if you are charged with one or more felonies as a result of what you do, do you expect to tell a judge and jury that you were following the advice of some screen names who gave you their legal opinions on an Internet gun forum?

Hairless' Third Law of Relationships with Women: When in doubt, run like hell. Away.
 
Prohibited person under federal law means:
-anyone convicted of a felony
-anyone convicted of a crime potentially punishable by > 1 year in jail
-anyone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence
-anyone dishonorably discharged or bad conduct discharged through a general court martial
-anyone addicted to drugs
-anyone judged to be mentally insane
-any fugitive from justice
-anyone whose parole, sentence or terms of release has a restriction on possessing firearms
-any illegal alien

I might have missed one in there, but I think you get the idea.

California law has a similar but different definition you need to consult CA statutes or preferably an attorney. There is almost certainly a list of predicate offenses that get you prohibited status.

30 days in county might have been some sort of misdemeanor but you need to find out from her what she got put away for.
 
Regardless, if it was truly a one time thing, she should consult an attorney and see if she can have it expunged.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

J
  • Locked
felons and bartending
Replies
5
Views
662
Sam1911
S
R
  • Locked
Ohio: Question about felon gun 'Possession'
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
TEDDY
T
M
  • Locked
California gun law questions
Replies
3
Views
502
Otherguy Overby
O
S
  • Locked
Carrying firearms around a felon.
Replies
20
Views
2K
230RN
230RN
O
  • Locked
NC Felon
Replies
5
Views
525
Frandy
F
Back
Top