PA “Clean Slate” Does Not Restore Firearms Rights – Prince Law Offices Blog

Many Pennsylvanians have had previous legal convictions that have been topic to the PA “Clear Slate” legislation, handed in 2018 and lately expanded in 2023, ensuing within the convictions being scrubbed from their file – or at the very least, so one may suppose. Whereas a legal file topic to the Clear Slate legislation gained’t typically be accessible to non-public employers or most people, it’s not gone eternally, and lots of authorized penalties of a conviction stay in place. Clear Slate beneficiaries will nonetheless be required to reveal previous convictions in some circumstances, will be charged as repeat offenders of they reoffend sooner or later, and – if the conviction was one which led to the lack of firearms rights – will proceed to be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms or ammunition except they get hold of additional authorized reduction.

The Clear Slate Act itself, with its related provisions codified at 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2, offers for eligible convictions (typically, nonviolent misdemeanors or drug- and theft-related felonies) to be moved to a “restricted entry” standing robotically after a set time frame, which varies from 5 to 10 years primarily based on the offense. Restricted entry can be granted for another qualifying offenses by bringing a petition earlier than a court docket.

Beneath Federal legislation, 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), an individual is prohibited from buying, possessing, or in any other case using firearms, by a qualifying legal conviction (which incorporates not solely felony offenses, but additionally extra critical state-law misdemeanors equivalent to a Pennsylvania Misdemeanor of the First Diploma) except they will get hold of both a restoration of civil rights, an expungement, or a pardon. Data positioned in restricted entry pursuant to the Clear Slate Act are nonetheless out there for quite a lot of functions, together with for legislation enforcement use, and thus usually are not “expunged,” as required by federal legislation. Additionally, as a result of the file of the conviction remains to be out there for legislation enforcement use, an individual with prohibiting convictions topic to restricted entry who makes an attempt to buy a firearm will possible be denied on the background verify stage and could also be subjected to prosecution for making a false assertion on the applying kind.

Restricted entry additionally doesn’t take away a firearms prohibition pursuant to state legislation beneath 18 Pa.C.S.  § 6105, though within the uncommon instances the place an individual is prohibited beneath Pennsylvania legislation however not Federal legislation, acquiring reduction is comparatively easy.

Eradicating the Federal firearms incapacity following a legal conviction, however, is not any straightforward matter. Pennsylvania has no course of for restoration of civil rights following a conviction, and expungement isn’t out there for these beneath the age of 70. Due to this fact, most individuals searching for reduction would require a Governor’s pardon, which includes a prolonged utility and overview course of administered by the PA Board of Pardons. As a result of it is a discretionary course of, many candidates finally fail to acquire reduction, however chances are high significantly better for individuals who get hold of certified authorized counsel who can advise them on the earliest potential level earlier than making use of.

f you or somebody you already know has been the sufferer of an unconstitutional firearm regulation, or want to talk about your rights or obligations beneath this new regulation, contact FICG in the present day to debate your choices.

Firearms Trade Consulting Group® (FICG®) is a registered trademark and division of Civil Rights Protection Agency, P.C., with rights and permissions granted to Prince Regulation Workplaces, P.C. to make use of on this article.

Printed by Kevin P. Fenchak, Esq.

Kevin Fenchak was born and raised in State Faculty, PA, the son of two Penn State graduates and grandson of one other. Kevin adopted the household legacy by attending Penn State College, graduating in 2019 with one Bachelor’s diploma in Historical past and a second in Philosophy. He then attended Antonin Scalia Regulation Faculty in Arlington, Virginia whereas working as a contract translator and editor, graduating and incomes his J.D. in Could of 2023 and passing the Pennsylvania Bar Examination in July of 2023.

Kevin has been an fanatic of navy historical past since he was capable of learn and has been an avid shooter since he obtained his first rifle on the age of 18. Rising up within the pure great thing about central Pennsylvania additionally instilled an early love for tenting and the outside. He can usually be discovered at certainly one of Philadelphia’s many live performance venues, engaged on a brand new woodshop venture, or engrossed in a tabletop sport basic like Diplomacy or Axis and Allies.
View all posts by Kevin P. Fenchak, Esq.