So I went to pick up my New SKS from my FFL and found that my background check came back denied due to a felony arrest I had in 1997.
The arrest never went to court.
I never recieved any kind of a summons.
I was a juvenile at the time of the arrest.
(for the record I was a bystander who chose not to run when the police showed up so naturally when they were evaded by the others present they had no one else to charge with the crime but me and one other friend, the charge is arson..... I dunno I was 16 and I was watching some punk kids torch a porta pottie I didn't do anything so I didn't run)
I assume they never pressed charges due to a lack of evidence..
So I guess the case is currently open..
I called Arapahoe County district court and they said they have no record of the case.. so I call the APD and they give me a case number and the date it happened and then transfer me to records where I'm told how to get a copy of my arrest report..... in a later call to the district court I found that to get the record closed I need a copy of the arrest report and to fill out the "petition to seal arrest report" form. I guess the deal is the form is reviewed by a judge at arapahoe district court and he decides yay or nay on sealing the arrest report..
seeing as it is 8 years old give or take a few months and I've never heard a peep about this skeleton in my closet until I tried to buy a gun,
What do you think the chances of this report being sealed and me being able to collect the two rifles I already paid for..I read all the articles that can prevent you from purchasing a firearm in Colorado on the ATF website and every criminal related item requires that you have a pending case or that you were convicted of the felony in order to be prohibited from owning a firearm.
I guess the only glitch I could run into is if the judge reviewing my petition to seal decides to leave the case open.. I'm not sure why he would though seeing as no action has been taken on the case in 8 years.
Can I get some general opinion or possibly get a Judge or LEO in here to give me some Idea what I'm up against?
I feel I've done my research but the part I'm not sure about is the district court Judge's part in this and the criteria he would judge my arrest report on to decide to seal or not seal it.
I feel these are good checks and balances to have in place but the info I need is so spread all over the place its nuts...
I'm pretty confident it will be sealed and I'll be able to collect my new toys unless there is something I'm not aware of..
and if the judge decides not to allow me to seal the record what is my next course of action? Get a Lawyer and make an appeal?
Anyone else had this problem?
Talk about wrong place wrong time