KIDGLOCK
Banned
Now this is a state !!!
http://www.casperstartribune.net/ar.../wyoming/022f85e95b2953118725716a00047caf.txt
Kind of makes ya sick to your tummy dont it.............![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
CASPER, Wyo. - Wyoming has sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, saying the federal agency illegally rejected a Wyoming law allowing people who have misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence to win back their right to own guns.
In the lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Wyoming, Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank argues that ATF exceeded its authority by rejecting Wyoming's law simply because the federal agency didn't like it.
"However, such policy decisions are reserved for Wyoming's legislature," Crank wrote. "The BATF's actions are an illegal attempt to force BATF's will upon the Wyoming attorney general and Wyoming's duly elected legislature.
Crank says the ATF's actions are arbitrary and capricious. He says they violate the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reserves to the states those powers not specifically granted by the Constitution to the federal government.
John Powell, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney Matt Mead in Cheyenne, said Mead's office was still reviewing the lawsuit.
"We need to evaluate what the case is and what we're going to do with it," Powell said.
Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of "a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" from possessing a firearm. In 1986, Congress amended that law to allow states to set rules for restoring gun rights to people who've been pardoned or whose convictions have been "expunged, or set aside."
In 2004, Wyoming's legislature unanimously passed a law meant to govern how such convictions could be "expunged": Individuals would have to wait one year after completing their sentence; they would not qualify if their misdemeanor conviction involved the use or attempted use of a firearm; and they could not have any other convictions that prohibit them from owning guns.
Furthermore, Wyoming's law stated that a record of the "expunged" conviction would be kept by the state Division of Criminal Investigation and could be used to enhance penalties for future convictions.
That, ATF said, was the problem. In August 2004, shortly after Wyoming's law was passed, ATF Special Agent Lester Martz wrote to Crank, saying the federal law applied only to convictions that were completely eliminated. Citing a 1991 opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Martz wrote: "The word 'expunge' generally means the physical destruction of information."
Those definitions come into play for gun dealers seeking to determine to whom they can sell firearms. Dealers are required to use National Instant Criminal Searches unless a buyer has a concealed weapon permit, which certifies that the buyer already has passed background checks.
ATF says Wyoming's law could allow people to get a concealed weapons permit, even though they wouldn't qualify under federal standards.
Earlier this year, Nicholas V. Colucci, deputy chief of ATF's Firearms Division, wrote to Crank, saying that if the state maintained its interpretation of the law, Wyoming's concealed weapons permit would not be accepted as an alternative to an NICS search, adding that "ATF would be pleased to work with you on possible remedies that meet our common goal of ensuring that firearms are kept out of the hands of prohibited persons, including those with domestic violence convictions."
Crank said ATF's position amounted to an ultimatum: "Either capitulate to the BATF's illegal interpretations or the BATF will take actions against Wyoming citizens which would deprive them of their due process rights."
In a news release Wednesday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal supported the lawsuit, saying Wyoming's law "actually gives Wyoming's law enforcement and judicial system a greater ability to protect domestic violence victims."
State Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who sponsored the legislation, also backed the lawsuit.
"Federal officials do not like Wyoming's procedure for restoring Second Amendment rights in one-time misdemeanor convictions," Case said. "But our process is consistent with federal law and the protection of the public ...."
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
http://www.casperstartribune.net/ar.../wyoming/022f85e95b2953118725716a00047caf.txt
Kind of makes ya sick to your tummy dont it.............
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
CASPER, Wyo. - Wyoming has sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, saying the federal agency illegally rejected a Wyoming law allowing people who have misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence to win back their right to own guns.
In the lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Wyoming, Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank argues that ATF exceeded its authority by rejecting Wyoming's law simply because the federal agency didn't like it.
"However, such policy decisions are reserved for Wyoming's legislature," Crank wrote. "The BATF's actions are an illegal attempt to force BATF's will upon the Wyoming attorney general and Wyoming's duly elected legislature.
Crank says the ATF's actions are arbitrary and capricious. He says they violate the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which reserves to the states those powers not specifically granted by the Constitution to the federal government.
John Powell, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney Matt Mead in Cheyenne, said Mead's office was still reviewing the lawsuit.
"We need to evaluate what the case is and what we're going to do with it," Powell said.
Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of "a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" from possessing a firearm. In 1986, Congress amended that law to allow states to set rules for restoring gun rights to people who've been pardoned or whose convictions have been "expunged, or set aside."
In 2004, Wyoming's legislature unanimously passed a law meant to govern how such convictions could be "expunged": Individuals would have to wait one year after completing their sentence; they would not qualify if their misdemeanor conviction involved the use or attempted use of a firearm; and they could not have any other convictions that prohibit them from owning guns.
Furthermore, Wyoming's law stated that a record of the "expunged" conviction would be kept by the state Division of Criminal Investigation and could be used to enhance penalties for future convictions.
That, ATF said, was the problem. In August 2004, shortly after Wyoming's law was passed, ATF Special Agent Lester Martz wrote to Crank, saying the federal law applied only to convictions that were completely eliminated. Citing a 1991 opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Martz wrote: "The word 'expunge' generally means the physical destruction of information."
Those definitions come into play for gun dealers seeking to determine to whom they can sell firearms. Dealers are required to use National Instant Criminal Searches unless a buyer has a concealed weapon permit, which certifies that the buyer already has passed background checks.
ATF says Wyoming's law could allow people to get a concealed weapons permit, even though they wouldn't qualify under federal standards.
Earlier this year, Nicholas V. Colucci, deputy chief of ATF's Firearms Division, wrote to Crank, saying that if the state maintained its interpretation of the law, Wyoming's concealed weapons permit would not be accepted as an alternative to an NICS search, adding that "ATF would be pleased to work with you on possible remedies that meet our common goal of ensuring that firearms are kept out of the hands of prohibited persons, including those with domestic violence convictions."
Crank said ATF's position amounted to an ultimatum: "Either capitulate to the BATF's illegal interpretations or the BATF will take actions against Wyoming citizens which would deprive them of their due process rights."
In a news release Wednesday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal supported the lawsuit, saying Wyoming's law "actually gives Wyoming's law enforcement and judicial system a greater ability to protect domestic violence victims."
State Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, who sponsored the legislation, also backed the lawsuit.
"Federal officials do not like Wyoming's procedure for restoring Second Amendment rights in one-time misdemeanor convictions," Case said. "But our process is consistent with federal law and the protection of the public ...."
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
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