Posted: 5/9/2008 5:32:37 AM EDT
|
We live in Illinois. In IL. in order to lawfully posses a firearm, ammo, gun powder or primers one must posses a valid IL. Firearm Owners ID as issued by IL. State Police. In order to get one you must have a clean record. 2 years ago my cousin Raymond applied for an IL. FOID and although 27 years prior he was convicted of a drug related felony he was still granted the FOID. This is because there is a provision in the IL. law that allows a convicted felon to be granted a valid IL. FOID if the conviction is more than 20 years old and was not of a violent or forcible nature, there has been no convictions since, the person has been deemed nolonger a threat to the community and granted (something called) relief by a judge in that community. This process takes 6 months to a year to make happen and rarely happens at all. Before the relief was eventually granted Ray had to provide a number of old documents and provide 5 signed and verifyable character referrances then was interviewed by the asst. states attourney before the hearing in front of a judge. The relief was granted, court documents sent to IL. Sate Police and the FOID was issued. Raymond will not lie to a LEO. The question is: If he gets stopped by a MI. LEO and is asked if he has any guns in the car he will say yes, unloaded and cased for transport. The LEO will then probably ask if he has any arrests or convictions and he will yes, 29 years ago in IL. Would he at that time be subject to arrested for unlawfully possesing a firearm in MI due to the 29 year old felony conviction in Illinois? He would have a one .38 Spl. revolver, his house gun and one .22LR bolt rifle that he never shoots. Does handgun or rifle make a differance? Thanks Much in Advance. Edit for an attempt at puncuation. |
|
Find it hard to believe a LEO would ask about prior convictions and such, that is why he runs a check on the computer if they can check other states. I have never been asked that. Guessing unless he has a national bolo out for him he would be fine, especially having the IL FOID card. But then I am not LEO and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. It is simple, don't speed or have a moving violation he won't get pulled over!!  Oh and if he does, he should not wait for LEO to ask, when he asks for your license hand him the IL firearm card with driver's license and tell him you have guns in the trunk. |
CAUTION! Many states have a mechanism by which State prohibitions against firearm possession by felons expire after so many years. Michigan, too has such automatic restoration of firearm rights for non-violent offenders. These laws are great and certainly act to prevent State prosecutions for firearm possession. HOWEVER, none of these Laws act to relieve a convicted felon of federal firearm disabilities. I believe that you will find that Federal Law prevents your cousin, Raymond, from possessing firearms or ammunition unless he has received an expungement, set-aside of the conviction or a gubernatorial pardon. Your cousin could be prosecuted under federal law for felon-in-possession of firearm/ammunition if this is not the case. The federal prohibitions can only be relieved by an expungement (only works in some states), set-aside, or a gubenatorial pardon if the underlying conviction is for a State Law crime. Perhaps this is what your cousin obtained from the judge when you said that he was granted some form of relief? If the underlying offense was a federal offense, then your cousin would need a presidential pardon. If your cousin received a pardon, set-aside of the original conviction or expungement, then he has the same rights that any other out-state firearm possessor has in Michigan and would have to transport his weapons in accordance with Michigan Law. Transport of pistols in Michigan by out of state, non-concealed weapons license holders or cpl holders from non-reciprocal states is currently a problem in Michigan. The information contained within this posting is NOT LEGAL ADVICE. Legal advice is only offered to paying clients. I am not a licensed Illinois attorney. I know even less than Sargeant Schultz. Always consult an attorney before relying on the information contained in bulletin board posts. |
| If you are visiting MI you must have a valid CCW permit to posses a pstol in MI and the prior felony may or may not be an issue, from your description it sounds like the conviction was expunged. If you are passing thru MI with pistol all is well, but you cannot be visiting. Jeff |
Hyperion, I've read your well appreciated post a few times and am still not sure what to think. In summery it sounds like Raymond would be ok with a long gun in MI and noone from out of state is ok with a handgun in MI. I'll probably hang on to his nothing special house gun, a nickle plated ROSSI model 68, .38 Special with 3 inch barrel I have a feeling Raymond is the first felon to recieve an IL. FOID because it was the IL. state police FOID director who we will call CL who spoke with Ray on the phone about the special provision. During this conversation CL had Ray get online and go to the IL. State Police web site and together they interpreted the provision. They spoke from my house because at Ray's house he cannot get online and be on the phone at the same time. Once we found the provision we copied it to paper. With that and the original felony case minutes Raymond filed a motioned to get the case on the docket and asked for consideration for 'relief'. The judge nor the assistant state had any idea as to what Ray was asking for nor had they ever heard of such a thing so the case was continued. The assistant state asked if Ray would meet with him at his office later that day. I found all of this very interesting and was with Raymond in court but i wasn't allowed to meet with the state's atty. so I waited in the lobby. Ray gave the state the copy of the provision and he said he had never heard of this but would research it. When they came out to the lobby the state told us that he was a duck hunter and that he was impressed at Ray's desire to be in "compliance" with the law. A month later, 9:00 am Ray I were back in court and was the last case called that day. Raymond was called and the assistant states attourney immediatly explained to the judge specificaly what Raymond was requesting. Your Honor asked Ray a few questions like his age-51 and where and how long he had been employed-Raymond has been a regular door to door mail man for 23 years and other questions about any further arrests-none. Relief for the convictions was granted, court papers forwarded to IL. Sate Police FOID Div. 2 weeks later Raymonf had a valid IL. FOID. For the poster 'THOLL223' who finds it "hard to believe that a LEO would ask if you've ever been arrested". That is a question LEO's ask all the time...don't you watch COPS on TV?? Seriously tho, I think that LEO's already know the correct answers to most of the questions that they ask a subject. And as far as "Oh and if he does (get pulled over), he should not wait for LEO to ask, when he asks for your license hand him the IL firearm card with driver's license and tell him you have guns in the trunk." Very good advice. If I were to ever get pulled over I would do that. From 'THOLL223' "Guessing unless he has a national bolo out for him he would be fine, especially having the IL FOID card." Question: What is a 'national bolo'?? Thanks To Everyone Very Much. |