Ok, so I've cornered a lawyer and convinced him to help me, lol. I've been given the go ahead to let you guys in on the details. This whole situation has been frustrating, humbling, annoying, and a whole bunch of other words that I probably shouldn't use on the forum.
Just to give you guys a little background on myself, I grew up here in Minnesota. When I turned 18 and graduated from high school, I enlisted in the Marine Corps and set off for boot camp in July of 2003. I served for four years, deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, was eventually promoted to Corporal, and never shot anything but expert on the range. I was stationed in North Carolina, and shortly after getting back from deployment I learned about open carry, joined the group, and acquired my concealed handgun permit for NC. I was honorably discharged in 2007, and ended up staying in NC for a while. I relaxed and lived by the beach, until eventually deciding to pursue a career in law enforcement. In the earlier part of 2010 I became a certified law enforcement officer in NC. Before I was able to land a job, though, I had to move back home to Minnesota. I quickly found a job in armed security, and applied for my carry permit here in Minnesota. That is when the fun began..
You see, when I was 15 years old, I did something stupid. I negligently shot a neighbor kid with a BB air pistol. I used to say accidentally, but it was because of my stupidity and lack of safety precautions, so it was negligent. I ended up being charged with, get this, Assault with a Deadly Weapon. I was adjudicated delinquent, and spent a couple of weeks in juvenile detention for it. I was in there with kids that had beaten people to near death, stolen cars, sold drugs. Needless to say, I didn't exactly fit in.
Anyway, I was told time and time again that once I turned 18, I could put all of it behind me, and I did. Obviously it didn't cause me any problems. I've had countless background checks in my life for the military, police, firearm purchases, and my carry permit. After over 10 years, I had all but forgotten about my stupid antics from my childhood. That is until last week.
Like I mentioned earlier, I applied for my carry permit in MN as soon as I got my armed security job. After waiting for a week or so, I got a call from the Sheriff's office. They declined my application. Why? Because Minnesota statute 624.713 says, among other things, that anyone who has ever been convicted of any "crime of violence", in any jurisdiction, cannot possess a firearm, ever. So in a nutshell, because of a stupid mistake with a BB gun when I was 15 years old, I can't legally so much as possess a firearm in Minnesota, let alone carry one.
Now let me say this right now. I made a mistake. I failed to follow proper safety precautions with a BB air pistol. I never have, and never will imply that I didn't do something wrong here. I paid for that mistake dearly, and learned one heck of a lesson......over 10 years ago. Since then I have been an upstanding citizen with a clean record. I have never even been in so much as a fist fight. Seriously, never. I've served my country, and my neighbors proudly. I have skillfully and responsibly handled, carried, and utilized firearms of all shapes and sizes.
Thankfully, there is a way for me to possibly fix this. Minnesota statute 609.165 provides the means to petition the courts to have my right to possess firearms restored. That is what my plan of action is at this point. Unfortunately this has forced me to hire a lawyer, which is not cheap. This is also costing me time, which may very well cause me to lose my job. It's one heck of a mess, to say the least.
I'll say it again, I know I made a mistake a long time ago...but it frustrates me to no end that I'm still paying for it now. I mean, what would happen if I started a poll on this website that asked how many of you have ever struck someone in anger? Got into a knock down drag out fight when you were drunk in college? Whizzed a BB into your brother's back side because he pushed you into the mud? Would all of us that answered yes deserve to have our right to possess firearms taken away? I don't think so. There are some horrible, evil, criminal people in this world that deserve any bit of punishment we can throw at 'em, but I'm not one of those people. I'm far from it.
So that's my story, and that's the drama I'm going through. Fun stuff, huh?
