Posted: 5/18/2005 7:56:57 PM EDT
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I started thinking about this after reading a bunch of the recent “divorce” posts (where folks may have their weapons seized as a result of allegations made by a spouse who is suing for divorce) and “SHTF government confiscation” threads. If you own an AR type weapon where the lower is the “registered firearm”, could you simply turn over the stripped lower rather than the entire gun? Or would this violate the letter of law? I realize that if the authorities show up at your door with no warning, it might not be possible, but with notice could this work? What say you Hive legal minds?  |
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Yea, I agree that if they show up unannounced at your door, you don't have time to do anything. But lets say you were anticipating it.... I assume in a divorce scenario, that the authorities must present some kind of court order. Any cops here that can shed light on this? |
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that is unless your ex takes your guns to the cops.. one more reaosn to have your stuff spread out... don't you know some friends? I think my guns would all get "sold at a gun show" wink wink, hint hint. To many crazyy be-atches do this. My friend lost most of his guns, cause his crazy ex-GIRLFRIEND took them tot he cops, and lied about him. HE still isn't allowed to own guns to this day. Hopefully I think the thing expires in not to long, but it's been years. |
I have never heard of it happening. There are several court orders in Texas to be concerned with in this matter. Each has varying effects. The only two that affect your right to possess firearms under Texas law, and the only two that count as a "domestic violence restraining order" under Federal law are the Magistrate's Emergency Protective Order and the Protective Order for family violence. The Magistrate's Order is a short-term (can run as long as 60 days, but typically only goes 30, depending on your local county courts). It is only issued in cases where you are actually arrested for a Family Violence Offense that includeds jail time. Those are basically going to be Assault with Bodily Injury, Agg Assault, Kidnapping and Agg Kidnapping, Sexual Assault and Agg Sexual Assault, Violating a Protective Order and Stalking. Basically the serious stuff. The other Protective Order is issued when one of the above cases has been filed, and the victim requests a PO. They run for two years, but, because it does take away your rights, you have a right to an adversarial hearing before the order is granted; they can't just serve you with the order. Because allegations of Family Violence pop up so frequently during divorces, criminal courts are generally not allowed to grant them during a a divorce; they can only be granted by the District Court handling the divorce, and unless they strictly deal with Family Violence offenses, they are generally not criminally enforceable. A criminally enforceable PO in Texas will very, very clearly state the terms and conditions, and those always, by statute, require that the respondent not possess firearms while the order is in effect. It isn't a permanent bar, but IF YOU VIOLATE THE ORDER, IT WILL BE! If you violate a PO, and are convicted, it counts as a domestic violence conviction, and you will lose your RKBA. Law Enforcement generally does NOT do follow-up searches on these, and if they did, they would typically be consent, because your spouse generally maintains the right to enter the residence unless a restraining order (a civil matter and not the jurisdiction of LE) has been granted. LE COULD get a search warrant if there was a good reason to believe that you possessed weapons in violation of a PO, but I haven't heard of that happening, and imagine it wouldn't unless the subject of the search was acting in a manner that made the Police believe that there was an ongoing threat to the life and safety of the other spouse. The only incidents I have been involved in when we took a family violence suspect's weapons were when we had arrested the suspect, and the spouse INSISTED that we take the weapons. I have only had that happen a couple of times, and the arrested party got their guns back after a few months both times (deffered prosecution, which was BS considering how badly those women gotten beaten). Be forewarned though; if you are subject to a family violence Protective Order in Texas (or the equivalent in your state), you are risking your RKBA PERMANENTLY by playing cute little games with lowers or swapping parts. Get a friend to take them as soon as things start going south, for your legal protection, and if served with a PO, let your lawyer come get them; that is what you are paying them for. Failure to act with calm and circumspect judgement in these situations (and people revert to the level of 8-year olds during divorces, trust me on that) can lead to very serious permanent consequences. |