Is a Minnesota juvenile offense holding you back from your gun rights? How to restore your gun rights in Minnesota

Many people do not realize that juvenile offenses can impact your gun rights. The felony crime of violence statute only references convictions without mentioning being adjudicated delinquent in a juvenile case. Minn. Stat. 624.712 subd. 5. However, another statute about who is not allowed to possess firearms incorporates juvenile cases along with adult criminal convictions. Minn. Stat. § 624.713 subd. 1(2). Which means that if the crime  in your juvenile case would have been a felony crime of violence in adult court, your firearm rights will be taken from you just the same as if it was a felony adult case. This statute burdens a lot of teenagers who make dumb mistakes when they are younger, and then mature into responsible adults. What do you need to do if you are in that situation?

It can ironically be more difficult to get gun rights back for a juvenile case rather than an adult case

Gun rights law is very complicated and you should contact a lawyer about your specific situation. But if you are a resident of Minnesota and have a Minnesota juvenile case you are in a peculiar place in connection with the law. If your case was in adult court, you would potentially have multiple options for restoring your gun rights including not only petitioning the district court but also a pardon. But the pardon power in Minnesota is reserved for adult convictions. Minn. Stat. § 638.12(1). You cannot ask for a pardon of a juvenile case. Which creates an absurd caveat in Minnesota law that restoring firearm rights for a juvenile can be more difficult than an a adult.

The 15 year old nephew and 40 year old uncle example

By way of example, imagine a scenario where a 40-year-old uncle and his 15-year-old nephew committed burglary. The nephew was influenced by the older uncle to commit the burglary, but both were guilty as charged. One is convicted in adult court and the other is adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court. Imagine 10 years later, that both people want to get their firearm rights back. The uncle is now 50 years old, and the nephew is now 25 years old. Most people would view this situation of this young man with a juvenile offense being much more deserving of getting his gun rights back. Being young and influenced by an older adult involves much more sympathy from most people. But the 50-year-old uncle would have more options being able to decide whether to take the case to a district court judge to petition for firearm rights or apply for a pardon. The 25-year-old would not be able to ask for a pardon because it was a juvenile case. I personally think the law should be changed so that you can ask for pardon of juvenile offenses. But the law as it stands now prevents you from doing that.

The petition to restore firearm rights of a juvenile offense

Currently, you need to petition to restore your firearm rights under Minn. Stat. § 609.165 if your underlying case was a juvenile one. This involves drafting a petition; filing it with the district court; and arguing at a hearing that you deserve to have your firearm rights restored. This blog post’s focus is not getting into the nitty gritty details of strategy involved in this. But instead if focused on the nuances of figuring out options for a juvenile offense which differ from if your case was an adult case. But the strategy involved in these cases are very important because guns can be a polarizing subject and making the best arguments to the judge is very important.

Conclusion

If you want to restore your firearm rights for an old juvenile offense, it’s important to realize how your situation is different from those with adult offenses. Contact Subzero Expungements, Pardons & Appeals for a free consultation. 651-248-5142