Hi, I am firearms attorney Gilbert Ambler, and I'm back today to talk about how Virginia set a trap all the way back in 2021. That is just now being sprung on unsuspecting gun owners. But before we dive into this, if you have not yet hit that subscribe button, what are you waiting for? Hit the subscribe button. Help us get to 8,000 subscribers. Like comment with your thoughts, share with your friends. That way you and your friends can both keep getting this important Second Amendment related content. What we're talking about is a Virginia law that went into effect, and this law is found at 18.2 dash 3 0 8 0.18 of Virginia Code. This law went into effect back in July of 2021, and I'm going to paraphrase for you here, but what this law purports to do is it purports to restore gun rights for those that have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence here in Virginia, provided the conviction occurred after July 1st, 2021 and provided that that individual subject to the restriction remains conviction free for the following three years and isn't subject to any protective orders nor anything else that would prohibit them from possessing firearms.
We're going to talk about how this is a trap, why it's a trap, why it's really nasty the way Virginia did this, but just a little bit of quick background on this subject. This is one of the bundle of laws that made some folks really excited because some folks thought that this was going to be wonderful, that this was going to restore rights if they had a conviction that say, predated July 1st, 2021. That's not the trap we're talking about, but obviously the law on its clear terms doesn't affect those older convictions. I also want to point out, I'm not talking about deferrals, deferrals or deferred dispositions are a common thing that occurs here in Virginia on misdemeanors where the court simply says, look, stay out of trouble for a year. If you stay out of trouble for a year, we will take this case against you.
We'll rip it up. We'll throw it out. We'll dismiss the charges against you. I'm not talking about deferrals. I'm talking about cases where there was a conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence after July 1st, 2021, and this is the trap. Virginia says that they're going to restore your rights. Unfortunately, I don't think that the federal government is going to recognize that restoration of rights, and here's why. The reasoning comes from the federal law because remember, under Virginia law, if you're convicted of that misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, you are not only convicted pursuant to Virginia law, but you're also prohibited on a federal level. Pursuant to 18 USC 9 22 18 USC 9 22 says, if you've been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, something called the law
Amendment, you are ineligible to be in possession of firearms. However, 18 USC 9 21 says that if you have had your rights restored, then you by the state that took your rights away. In this case, Virginia conviction, Virginia took your rights away. Federal law says if you have had your rights restored at the state level, they would automatically be recognized at the federal level. So why will this likely not work here in Virginia? It likely won't work because federal law is explicit that rights plural have to be removed. If it is only a singular right that is removed in this case, the right to firearms case law from other jurisdictions, other federal courts have been clear that when that singular right, the right to firearms is removed, and then that singular right, the right to firearms is restored, that does not meet the definition of rights plural being restored under federal law.
So what this means is that if Virginia took away not only your right to firearms, but also your right to serve on a jury, your right to hold public office, your right to vote, and then restored all of those rights after three years, that would trigger federal recognition and the feds would be okay with those people buying firearms or possessing firearms. Because Virginia only takes one right away and only gives back one right the right to possess firearms, it probably does not hit the federal threshold. Unfortunately, we had to wait three years from July 1st, 2021. Now we're in July of 2024. That means the first people who might've been convicted in the first couple weeks of July are coming up July of 2021, are coming up on three years since their conviction, meaning they probably think they're going to regain eligibility to possess firearms, and I hope we don't see them get charged. I would love to help defend them if they do get charged, but I do think it's a trap that unknowing and well-meaning folks are going to get caught up in. If you enjoyed this content, let us know below and please share this because we don't want to see good folks that think they're eligible wind up getting jammed up under federal law. Until next time.
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSVqVWgzVkI&list=WL&index=4
Credit: Gilbert Ambler, Esq