A number of my clients who have succeeded in having their gun rights restored have since made full use of their restored rights.
They have successfully purchased one or more Title I firearms, applied for a concealed carry permit, and are now ready to add one or more NFA items to their burgeoning collection.
Once they have an NFA trust drafted, the question that they all have is this, “How do I properly complete the Form 4 application?”
Specifically, they are concerned about question 15b from the latest version of the Form 4 (14a in older versions of the form) which asks “Have you ever been convicted in any court for a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could imprison you for [more] than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence including probation?”
Yes … they left the word ‘more’ out of the question on the form. I am sure future revisions will correct the error but the question should be read to include it.
In any case , since my clients have been convicted of a felony, their initial inclination is to answer this question ‘Yes’ … but that is not correct. At the top of question 15, we are advised to ‘(see instruction 7b and definitions)’.
In 7b we see a detailed definition of prohibited persons which includes convicted felons. However, in the definitions section we see the following exception:
EXCEPTION: A person who has been convicted of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned the person for more than one year, or who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, is not prohibited from purchasing, receiving, or possessing a firearm if:
(1) under the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred, the person has been pardoned, the conviction has been expunged or set aside, or the person has had their civil rights (the right to vote, sit on a jury, and hold public office) taken away and later restored AND
(2) the person is not prohibited by the law of the jurisdiction where the conviction occurred from receiving or possessing firearms. Persons subject to this exception should mark “no” in the applicable box.
So … if you have had your rights successfully restored, you should answer ‘No’ to this question.
However, you should remember that, once the Form 4 has been approved, you will need to complete the same forms as if you were purchasing a Title I firearm. The instructions for completing those forms after having your rights restored may be found here.
Disclaimer: This information is presented for educational purposes only and does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship. Additionally, I am licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia and this answer may not be appropriate for other states.
