Court Says North Carolina Felon Is Allowed To Own Guns- First Ruling Of It's Kind

A North Carolina felon has regained his right to own guns. He was convicted of selling Qualuudes in 1979 and had his rights restored in 1987, and believing they included owning guns, bought some for hunting. When a sheriff told him his possession was illegal, he disposed of them. The Highest Court in the state believed the drug crime was nonviolent.

The North Carolina Supreme Court in overturning a lower Appellate Court opinion said," Plaintiff, through his uncontested lifelong nonviolence towards other citizens, his thirty years of law abiding conduct since his crime, his seventeen years of responsible, lawful firearm possession between 1987 and 2004, and
his assiduous and proactive compliance with the 2004 amendment,
has affirmatively demonstrated that he is not among the class of
citizens who pose a threat to public peace and safety."

The Court further held that, "Based on the facts of plaintiff’s crime, his long postconviction history of respect for the law, the absence of any
evidence of violence by plaintiff, and the lack of any exception
or possible relief from the statute’s operation, as applied to
plaintiff, the (state's law) is an unreasonable regulation, not fairly related to the preservation of public peace and safety. In particular, it is unreasonable to
assert that a nonviolent citizen who has responsibly, safely, and
legally owned and used firearms for seventeen years is in reality
so dangerous that any possession at all of a firearm would pose a
significant threat to public safety."

Many believe that when a nonviolent felon has paid his debt to society, that the person should have full rights restored, but anti gun groups are furious. However, this ruling was not a blanket ruling and only applies to this one nonviolent felon's's gun ownership.

The Bradys are likely to one again become apoplectic, and exploit this case as a fund raising opportunity.

A good North Carolina attorney who may be asked by a felon, like this one, to have his gun rights restored would have to try to find facts in a fact pattern in his own client's case that are similar enough to this new case for the ruling to apply to anyone else.