GBMaryland
Active Member
Well,
I've posted two other threads here:
1) About being denied for a regulated firearms purchase in MD
2) One about followup after the mess was sorted out
So, now I'm going to give you all the after action report:
What happened
I applied for a handgun purchase and found out that I was denied. After a quick call to the Firearms Registration Unit of the MSP, I faxed over court documents from 20 years ago, and the problem was immeadiately resolved.
Why it happened
Well, it turns out that the MSP contacted the FBI, which then forwarded them my NJ SBI file number. While the FBI has no record of my ever being arrested or convicted of a Class 4 felony for weapons possesion, it appears that my NJ SBI file mistakenly does.
As such, the MSP refused my purchase, but upon my ability to immediately give them the documents clearing my name, the problem was solved.
Things I learned along the way
[AKA how I stumbled through the process of determining what the heck was going on]
20 years ago I was mistakenly pulled over because an NJ Officer *thought* my Red Ford Escort GT was a Red Ford Mustang GT. Assuming I was the drug fellon they were searching for, he carefully inspected the car and noticed a knife. [Insert a long story about LOTS of officers showing up on the scene (6 to 8 cruisers).]
I was charged with a Class 2 weapons possesion offense, and the county DA lowered the charges to what is called a "Petty Disorderly Persons Offense."
I was found guilty of the lesser charge, appealed the conviction, and the won the appeal because the officer had NO probable cause to pull me over, look for signs of a weapon, or, frankly, bother me at all.
BUT: The local court immediately updated the NJ SBI records, and listed me as convicted of the Class 4 felony charge! Not the lowered ammended charge of being a Petty Disorderly Person [which is akin to spitting on the sidewalk].
Because the charges were never forwarded to the FBI, none of my long gun purchases over the past 20 years have been an issue.
Oddly, and I can only assume this is due to imcompetence, NJ allowed me to purchase a few handguns over the 15 year period until I moved to Maryland. For all of their anti-gun rhetoric, NJ seems to be a bunch of screwballs... as their is NO WAY I should have been able to purchase any firearms, especially a handgun.
So, 20 yers went by and MD State Police figured it out...
What do you do if your record is showing inaccurate information?
Well, the first thing is that NJ is reporting me in their SBI database as a class 2 felon, when the reality is that I'm actually a "non-convicted person charged with a petty disorderly persons offense."
So that's not kool...
The thing that's actually saved my bacon is that I actually have copies of the court paper work from the appeals court, and some of the paperwork from the municipal that initally convicted me.
Making sure you have plenty of paperwork is KEY
So, what you need to do is:
1) Contact the municpal court where you were arrested, and possibly where your case was tried, and get their records.
2) If you appealed, you need to contact the Appeals court (usually a "Superior Court") and get their records.
3) You then need to contact the District Attorney's Office in whatever town or county you were tried in. In my case, the last court involved was the county court, due to the appeal. So the county DA is who is responsible for the final disposition.
4) You need to file a PIA request with the MSP for ALL of their records pertaining to the reason they refused you. (That's a Public Information Request... the State version of a FOIA)
5) You need to file a FOIA request for any background check information IF you work for the Federal Government and they performed any sort of deep look into your background.
6) You take all of the information from that, and then forward the pertainent parts of it to the DA's office along with any court paperwork indicating you won your appeal or were simply never convicted.
What are the gotchas?
The first possible issue is that the court(s) will probably have destroyed ALL of the records if it's been over 5-7 years.
So, unless you have copies of the documents, you may have a serious problem.
Interestingly, the DA last involved in your case is supposed to maintain the reocords indefinitely. So, if worse comes to worse, you can get the DA to pull up the records and then do their job an fix you record. However, you should also be prepared to wait for a long time, as they tend to worry about active cases first.
Never mind that you are being reporting of a crime you weren't guilty of...
What can I do in the meanwhile to prevent possibly being denied a firearms purchase?
Well, if you are able to provide any of the court documentation to the MSP, the Firearms Registration Unit will permanently ammend your record so that you don't have any issues purchasing REGULATED firearms.
Neato.
However, IF the other state has forwarded the information to the FBI, then then FBI will fail you during a NICS check.
However, there is an appeals process that you can go through, and you DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE REJECTED...
If you have the court paperwork (obviously indicating that you were not convicted or that the charges were far less serious than the other state is misreporting), you can file for a UPIN.
Basically, you send the FBI a copy of your finger prints [taken at a local police station], provide them a letter explains the situation, and the court documentation. They then turn around an send you a UPIN number that you use when filling out the ATF form for the purchase of a long gun.
Once your record is corrected, you send the FBI a letter recinding permission to hold onto your records for the UPIN account, and they are required to return/destroy the documention and remove the information you provided from their database.
Anything else?
Yes, there is also something called expungement.
The rules for expungement differ from State to State, but the bascis are that if you've kept you nose clean and not suffered any more run-ins with the law, you can request to have your record sealed.
Expungement does not prevent ALL law enforcement inquiries, but it does prevent MOST of them. (Such as requests to purchase firearms.)
However, if you are in a situation like myself, you need to make sure that you get your record corrected before having it expunged.
It's probably better to pay an attorney to get your record properly reported, then it is to live with a felony conviction appearing on your record that you didn't commit.
I've posted two other threads here:
1) About being denied for a regulated firearms purchase in MD
2) One about followup after the mess was sorted out
So, now I'm going to give you all the after action report:
What happened
I applied for a handgun purchase and found out that I was denied. After a quick call to the Firearms Registration Unit of the MSP, I faxed over court documents from 20 years ago, and the problem was immeadiately resolved.
Why it happened
Well, it turns out that the MSP contacted the FBI, which then forwarded them my NJ SBI file number. While the FBI has no record of my ever being arrested or convicted of a Class 4 felony for weapons possesion, it appears that my NJ SBI file mistakenly does.
As such, the MSP refused my purchase, but upon my ability to immediately give them the documents clearing my name, the problem was solved.
Things I learned along the way
[AKA how I stumbled through the process of determining what the heck was going on]
20 years ago I was mistakenly pulled over because an NJ Officer *thought* my Red Ford Escort GT was a Red Ford Mustang GT. Assuming I was the drug fellon they were searching for, he carefully inspected the car and noticed a knife. [Insert a long story about LOTS of officers showing up on the scene (6 to 8 cruisers).]
I was charged with a Class 2 weapons possesion offense, and the county DA lowered the charges to what is called a "Petty Disorderly Persons Offense."
I was found guilty of the lesser charge, appealed the conviction, and the won the appeal because the officer had NO probable cause to pull me over, look for signs of a weapon, or, frankly, bother me at all.
BUT: The local court immediately updated the NJ SBI records, and listed me as convicted of the Class 4 felony charge! Not the lowered ammended charge of being a Petty Disorderly Person [which is akin to spitting on the sidewalk].
Because the charges were never forwarded to the FBI, none of my long gun purchases over the past 20 years have been an issue.
Oddly, and I can only assume this is due to imcompetence, NJ allowed me to purchase a few handguns over the 15 year period until I moved to Maryland. For all of their anti-gun rhetoric, NJ seems to be a bunch of screwballs... as their is NO WAY I should have been able to purchase any firearms, especially a handgun.
So, 20 yers went by and MD State Police figured it out...
What do you do if your record is showing inaccurate information?
Well, the first thing is that NJ is reporting me in their SBI database as a class 2 felon, when the reality is that I'm actually a "non-convicted person charged with a petty disorderly persons offense."
So that's not kool...
The thing that's actually saved my bacon is that I actually have copies of the court paper work from the appeals court, and some of the paperwork from the municipal that initally convicted me.
Making sure you have plenty of paperwork is KEY
So, what you need to do is:
1) Contact the municpal court where you were arrested, and possibly where your case was tried, and get their records.
2) If you appealed, you need to contact the Appeals court (usually a "Superior Court") and get their records.
3) You then need to contact the District Attorney's Office in whatever town or county you were tried in. In my case, the last court involved was the county court, due to the appeal. So the county DA is who is responsible for the final disposition.
4) You need to file a PIA request with the MSP for ALL of their records pertaining to the reason they refused you. (That's a Public Information Request... the State version of a FOIA)
5) You need to file a FOIA request for any background check information IF you work for the Federal Government and they performed any sort of deep look into your background.
6) You take all of the information from that, and then forward the pertainent parts of it to the DA's office along with any court paperwork indicating you won your appeal or were simply never convicted.
What are the gotchas?
The first possible issue is that the court(s) will probably have destroyed ALL of the records if it's been over 5-7 years.
So, unless you have copies of the documents, you may have a serious problem.
Interestingly, the DA last involved in your case is supposed to maintain the reocords indefinitely. So, if worse comes to worse, you can get the DA to pull up the records and then do their job an fix you record. However, you should also be prepared to wait for a long time, as they tend to worry about active cases first.
Never mind that you are being reporting of a crime you weren't guilty of...
What can I do in the meanwhile to prevent possibly being denied a firearms purchase?
Well, if you are able to provide any of the court documentation to the MSP, the Firearms Registration Unit will permanently ammend your record so that you don't have any issues purchasing REGULATED firearms.
Neato.
However, IF the other state has forwarded the information to the FBI, then then FBI will fail you during a NICS check.
However, there is an appeals process that you can go through, and you DON'T HAVE TO WAIT TO BE REJECTED...
If you have the court paperwork (obviously indicating that you were not convicted or that the charges were far less serious than the other state is misreporting), you can file for a UPIN.
Basically, you send the FBI a copy of your finger prints [taken at a local police station], provide them a letter explains the situation, and the court documentation. They then turn around an send you a UPIN number that you use when filling out the ATF form for the purchase of a long gun.
Once your record is corrected, you send the FBI a letter recinding permission to hold onto your records for the UPIN account, and they are required to return/destroy the documention and remove the information you provided from their database.
Anything else?
Yes, there is also something called expungement.
The rules for expungement differ from State to State, but the bascis are that if you've kept you nose clean and not suffered any more run-ins with the law, you can request to have your record sealed.
Expungement does not prevent ALL law enforcement inquiries, but it does prevent MOST of them. (Such as requests to purchase firearms.)
However, if you are in a situation like myself, you need to make sure that you get your record corrected before having it expunged.
It's probably better to pay an attorney to get your record properly reported, then it is to live with a felony conviction appearing on your record that you didn't commit.
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