ServerJedi
New member
First time poster here, I will try to keep it as short as I can, but I am afraid it won't be based on the details. I will make them clear and factual.
In 1998, I was convicted of "Malicious Mischief 3 - DV" for breaking a 15 dollar birdhouse that I purchased two weeks prior. At that time, I was in possession of a 10-22, Winchester 30-30, Remington 30-06, Browning 12 gauge Semi auto and a 1911 which were all gifts from my father. I had an attorney who should have fought the charge because we couldn't lose. Instead, I was naive and fell for the advice of someone that was just looking to spend as little time on my case as possible. Believe it or not, I was originally charged with Assault 4 DV, even though I never even touched my wife, not even yelled. Following the agreement, I was not asked if I had any guns, nor did anyone ever mention losing the right to own a gun. I never signed anything acknowledging the right to lose a weapon, I nearly lost a chance of a promotion at Boeing because of this incident and I would offer this advice. If you did not commit the crime, do NOT plea it down to save time or hassle, you will only spend more time dealing with it later.
In early May, I tried to purchase a new hunting Rifle and a new pistol. Because I purchased a pistol in WA, the NICS check defaults to the Local PD. No matter, my Long rifle purchase was also "delayed". The guy at the counter told me that he has been seeing delays like crazy and that as long as there is not a "deny" put on the check in three days, that they can sell me the long rifle. Never mind that, the Auburn PD instructed the store to put a 30-day hold on both purchases and that I needed to contact them for further information. I called the Auburn PD, who told me they had questions about my gun purchases, then asked me "Why is it that you want to buy a gun? Why don't you just call us if you need help?" My response was "Well for starters it is my right as a citizen of this country and secondly I just can't carry a cop around in my pocket". This woman proceeded to accuse me of lying on my application about any of the domestic violence crimes that would prevent me from owning a firearm. I was quick to point out that Mal Mischief is NOT one of the crimes listed for revocation of second amendment rights. The officer told me that she has passed this on to "legal" for review which I found out is complete garbage, you have either lost your gun rights or haven't and there is a clear list of crimes that prevent a person from losing those rights. I wasn't going to argue anything with a Police Officer, I am certain in doing so, that I would still be waiting for those guns. I contacted an attorney, explained the details and she told me that while she could easily get the case expunged, that the Auburn PD should have never prevented me from purchasing one in the first place. I hired her immediately to begin the process to vacate the record, but in the meantime she fired off a letter to the Auburn PD and the City Attorney's office with the details of the situation, explaining that the Auburn PD's reason for holding my purchase as invalid. That the crimes are clearly spelled out to them and that by RCW definition (which is worded the same as the Fed's) I have not been convicted of a Domestic Violence crime. That these are the ones that would prevent me from a gun purchase. Any one of these with the DV tag costs you 2nd amendment rights.
Assault IV
Coercion
Stalking
Reckless Endangerment
Criminal Trespass in the first degree
Violation of the provisions of a protection order or no-contact order restraining the person or excluding the person from the residence
Even after the City Attorney instructed the Auburn PD to release the hold, they refused to acknowledge the instructions. After being phoned, emailed and faxed the Auburn PD's rep claimed to have not seen any of these messages or received any calls. Finally, I was copied on an email, directly to the rep in question that stated the hold needs to be removed. I saw the time stamp on the message, the reply to the City attorney and knew that indeed the rep had seen the message prior to claiming that she had not. I kept it cool, but eventually I was contacted by the gun counter and told that my hold had been released and that the sale of the guns were approved.
I took that opportunity to apply for my CPL (which I am required to do in Auburn) I am not worried about the time, I expect the Auburn PD to wait as long as they can before issuing the license based on the previous experience and am positive that I am going to get screwed over which will create further need for litigation that I plan to take, but I am fully disappointed in the amount of authority and loopholes that the PD can use to prevent me from purchasing a gun. I had to spend money on an attorney to force the Auburn PD to grant me the rights I never lost. I was informed that by placing the 30 day hold on the purchase, that the PD is using a loophole in that the application for gun purchase, there is a 29 day expiration and that by making the hold 30 days, that I would have to repeat the process and be subject to a continuing cycle, legally that would eventually force me to give up if I could not afford an attorney. Fortunately I can, but what about the others who don't have that kind of money at their disposal? After discussing this matter at length with my attorney, it would seem that the local PD is doing whatever they can to prevent the distribution of guns as a deterrent, in hopes that the buyer changes their mind before approval. That just seems wrong, just as it seems wrong for them to question why I wanted the gun. That isn't part of the approval process, what were they expecting? For me to come out and say "well I want to shoot people" so they can turn that into a mental instability question, thus spurring a denial based on my mental health? I will keep you posted on the CPL process, but I do not doubt that I will have to get assistance from my attorney once again, just to maintain the rights I never lost. I respect the police, in a big way. I always will, but this situation has me at odds with them.
I will say this, no matter how small the crime, if you didn't do it, then DO NOT PLEA to a lesser charge, fight that charge and force the court to drop the case, make it a jury trial, anything to keep your record clean.
In 1998, I was convicted of "Malicious Mischief 3 - DV" for breaking a 15 dollar birdhouse that I purchased two weeks prior. At that time, I was in possession of a 10-22, Winchester 30-30, Remington 30-06, Browning 12 gauge Semi auto and a 1911 which were all gifts from my father. I had an attorney who should have fought the charge because we couldn't lose. Instead, I was naive and fell for the advice of someone that was just looking to spend as little time on my case as possible. Believe it or not, I was originally charged with Assault 4 DV, even though I never even touched my wife, not even yelled. Following the agreement, I was not asked if I had any guns, nor did anyone ever mention losing the right to own a gun. I never signed anything acknowledging the right to lose a weapon, I nearly lost a chance of a promotion at Boeing because of this incident and I would offer this advice. If you did not commit the crime, do NOT plea it down to save time or hassle, you will only spend more time dealing with it later.
In early May, I tried to purchase a new hunting Rifle and a new pistol. Because I purchased a pistol in WA, the NICS check defaults to the Local PD. No matter, my Long rifle purchase was also "delayed". The guy at the counter told me that he has been seeing delays like crazy and that as long as there is not a "deny" put on the check in three days, that they can sell me the long rifle. Never mind that, the Auburn PD instructed the store to put a 30-day hold on both purchases and that I needed to contact them for further information. I called the Auburn PD, who told me they had questions about my gun purchases, then asked me "Why is it that you want to buy a gun? Why don't you just call us if you need help?" My response was "Well for starters it is my right as a citizen of this country and secondly I just can't carry a cop around in my pocket". This woman proceeded to accuse me of lying on my application about any of the domestic violence crimes that would prevent me from owning a firearm. I was quick to point out that Mal Mischief is NOT one of the crimes listed for revocation of second amendment rights. The officer told me that she has passed this on to "legal" for review which I found out is complete garbage, you have either lost your gun rights or haven't and there is a clear list of crimes that prevent a person from losing those rights. I wasn't going to argue anything with a Police Officer, I am certain in doing so, that I would still be waiting for those guns. I contacted an attorney, explained the details and she told me that while she could easily get the case expunged, that the Auburn PD should have never prevented me from purchasing one in the first place. I hired her immediately to begin the process to vacate the record, but in the meantime she fired off a letter to the Auburn PD and the City Attorney's office with the details of the situation, explaining that the Auburn PD's reason for holding my purchase as invalid. That the crimes are clearly spelled out to them and that by RCW definition (which is worded the same as the Fed's) I have not been convicted of a Domestic Violence crime. That these are the ones that would prevent me from a gun purchase. Any one of these with the DV tag costs you 2nd amendment rights.
Assault IV
Coercion
Stalking
Reckless Endangerment
Criminal Trespass in the first degree
Violation of the provisions of a protection order or no-contact order restraining the person or excluding the person from the residence
Even after the City Attorney instructed the Auburn PD to release the hold, they refused to acknowledge the instructions. After being phoned, emailed and faxed the Auburn PD's rep claimed to have not seen any of these messages or received any calls. Finally, I was copied on an email, directly to the rep in question that stated the hold needs to be removed. I saw the time stamp on the message, the reply to the City attorney and knew that indeed the rep had seen the message prior to claiming that she had not. I kept it cool, but eventually I was contacted by the gun counter and told that my hold had been released and that the sale of the guns were approved.
I took that opportunity to apply for my CPL (which I am required to do in Auburn) I am not worried about the time, I expect the Auburn PD to wait as long as they can before issuing the license based on the previous experience and am positive that I am going to get screwed over which will create further need for litigation that I plan to take, but I am fully disappointed in the amount of authority and loopholes that the PD can use to prevent me from purchasing a gun. I had to spend money on an attorney to force the Auburn PD to grant me the rights I never lost. I was informed that by placing the 30 day hold on the purchase, that the PD is using a loophole in that the application for gun purchase, there is a 29 day expiration and that by making the hold 30 days, that I would have to repeat the process and be subject to a continuing cycle, legally that would eventually force me to give up if I could not afford an attorney. Fortunately I can, but what about the others who don't have that kind of money at their disposal? After discussing this matter at length with my attorney, it would seem that the local PD is doing whatever they can to prevent the distribution of guns as a deterrent, in hopes that the buyer changes their mind before approval. That just seems wrong, just as it seems wrong for them to question why I wanted the gun. That isn't part of the approval process, what were they expecting? For me to come out and say "well I want to shoot people" so they can turn that into a mental instability question, thus spurring a denial based on my mental health? I will keep you posted on the CPL process, but I do not doubt that I will have to get assistance from my attorney once again, just to maintain the rights I never lost. I respect the police, in a big way. I always will, but this situation has me at odds with them.
I will say this, no matter how small the crime, if you didn't do it, then DO NOT PLEA to a lesser charge, fight that charge and force the court to drop the case, make it a jury trial, anything to keep your record clean.
Malicious mischief in the third degree (RCW 
