When your local police imply that you're not a Federally Prohibited Person,
it means they have
absolutely no clue about whether you're an FPP.
Your problem may simply be that some overworked Fed investigator
is misreading some part of your history -
maybe they saw an arrest record and overlooked the subsequent acquittal.
But maybe some obscure court record which might make you an FPP
may only have been digitized and easily available to Fed investigators
after your LTC history check was performed.
Local police are not your lawyers; can't see the Feds' details, so can't know.
It's very good that the local police don't find this issue makes you unsuitable for an LTC.
They could be much harder to convince than the Feds.
Local cop is confounded, but is giving you free legal advice.
The local LEO is not a Federal judge.
The local LEO is not the ATF agent's boss.
Clarified that for you.
(Well, maybe there's some other failure mode you're thinking of
that I've never even heard of).
If OP is an FPP, he's not just prohibited from possessing firearms,
he's also prohibited from
selling them.
Do Exactly The Same Thing, and get a different outcome.
- There is nothing that you can personally do to completely eliminate the chance of the Feds showing up, especially since you don't know what is triggering them.
- I was going to say that your wife is the least of your worries. But if you haven't taught her to say absolutely nothing to anybody about this - not the local police, and especially not the Feds - then she is something to worry about.
- The Feds are currently convinced that it's not legal for you to own any guns. By you talking to your local police, now they're wondering whether it's legal for you to own any guns. The local police have spoken to the Feds; regardless of what they told you, they may know what has convinced the Feds that it's not legal for you to own guns. They may not believe it, but they could be double-checking.
I infer that
some NESers who have gotten mistaken denials from the Feds have successfully convinced them to grant permission to proceed by following the ATF appeal process without hiring a lawyer.
However, I don't know if
any of these success stories had gotten denials on their first AR purchase,
then convinced the Feds to proceed despite having non-trivial arrest records
without hiring a lawyer.
It's conceivable that you can go through the appeals process without a lawyer,
and win or lose, won't be arrested for the Federal felony of being an FPP in Possession.
It's inconceivable that you can just return the gun without following the process,
and have
no risk of ever being arrested for the Federal felony of FPP in Possession.
(You already own a handgun).
If
that happens, you'll need a lawyer whether or not you get convicted.
You should contact one of the good Mass gun lawyers
now.
Sigh.