Gun rights, second amendment law
You’ve celebrated the recent passing of Proposition 64, which retroactively reduced your felony marijuana cultivation conviction to a simple misdemeanor. You petition the court for your reduction. Additionally, you ask for and are granted termination of probation and expungement. It was the only conviction on your record that made you ineligible to possess firearms. After obtaining the appropriate orders from the court, you immediately make plans to purchase a firearm, as is your constitutional right. You go to the gun store, pick out a nice varmint gun for the animals feasting on your chickens. You are denied.
The Department of Justice is doing everything it can to keep you in the prohibited persons category with regards to gun ownership, despite the state law that says otherwise and in the face of constitutional protections that create a fundamental right to bear arms. They are taking a page out of the federal government’s playbook by claiming that they have no resources to determine whether or not an applicant is truly eligible. In essence, you must wait indefinitely until, in their good time, they offer you due process. In many cases, it has amounted to years of waiting.
Lawsuits have been filed to end the delays, but, so far, the State of California has been unresponsive. Per usual, our system of government is less concerned with following the law than getting re-elected. Thus, the very people granted the authority to enforce the law will, once again, violate the law through intentional inaction. This is legislating via executive authority and violates the separation of powers doctrine.
What can be done? In my cases, I have taken the matter back to Superior Court and asked the judges to sign an order granting my client’s rights back. Next, I send the signed order along with the administrative appeal paperwork demanding they remove him/her from their list of prohibited persons. If they do nothing, I file suit and let DOJ explain why they refuse to act in accordance with the law.
If you have a gun rights issue, contact Santa Rosa criminal defense attorney Gabriel M. Quinnan to evaluate your case.