BOISE – A former Idaho man’s problems convincing the state of Pennsylvania he should have the right to bear arms landed in the Idaho Supreme Court Tuesday.
____ ____ was convicted of rape in Idaho in 1992, a felony that carries a permanent loss of gun rights. That conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor in 2004 through a sentencing agreement, but he was still required to register as a sex offender. That kind of arrangement couldn’t happen today; Idaho changed its laws in 2006 to prevent a conviction on a felony sex offense from being reduced to a misdemeanor.
But in 2004, the court order noted, “The judgment is hereby deemed a misdemeanor conviction, thereby restoring the Petitioner to his civil rights.”
Now, ____ lives in Pennsylvania, and he sought clarification from the Pennsylvania State Police as to whether he has legal gun rights there. A Pennsylvania administrative law judge ruled that his Idaho rape conviction prohibited him from owning a gun there. That ruling also brings into play federal law, preventing him from having guns in any state. Full Article