Court restores convicted felon’s gun rights

A man with a clean record after his 1989 drug conviction won reinstatement of his right to purchase, possess and carry firearms, as the court found he satisfied the “good cause shown” standard by demonstrating the risk that caused him to lose his rights in the first place are no longer appeared present.

Background

Petitioner was convicted of two counts of distribution of cocaine in 1989. As such, he became a convicted felon and he was thus divested by operation of law of certain rights, including the ability to purchase, possess and carry firearms, ammunition and/or stun weapons. Petitioner subsequently sought, and did acquire by Executive Order of the Governor of Virginia, the restoration of the specific rights to vote, to hold public office, to serve on a jury, to be a notary public and to ship, transport, possess or receive firearms. Petitioner has not been convicted of any felony offense since this granting of clemency to him.

Petitioner has moved to reinstate his right to purchase, possess and carry firearms, ammunition and/or stun weapons pursuant to Virginia Code § 18.2-308.2. The petition implicitly raises the question as to what the General Assembly meant by the “good cause shown” standard for such restoration delineated in the enabling statute.

Petitioner posits that what he must show is merely that he has returned to a normal, uneventful and law-abiding life after incurring the felony convictions that caused him to lose his right to bear firearms. The commonwealth responds that before such rights may be restored petitioner should be required to show he has a post-conviction record of exemplary citizenship.

Analysis

A different judge of this court, in deciding another case, conceived of seven factors that may be considered as a framework to evaluate in a reasonable and logical way whether good cause has been shown to restore the right of a convicted felon to bear firearms. This framework, in application, imparts one overarching governing principle, namely, that the person whose gun rights are to be restored must be determined to no longer constitute a threat to the community.

This court holds that “good cause shown” in the context of restoration of gun rights simply means the risk that caused the offender to lose his or her right to bear firearms as informed by a factored analysis of the available evidence no longer appears present. After examining these factors, this court finds that petitioner has demonstrated good cause for this court to restore his right to bear firearms.

Motion granted.

In re McGregor, Case No. CL-2018-13906, Nov. 27, 2018. Fairfax Cir. Ct. (Bernhard). VLW No. 018-8-106, 13 pp.