It is illegal to own, use or possess any firearms or bullets if you have a felony on your record and I see a lot of cases where people are going to the shooting range and shooting a weapon. Now normally, they're not going to catch you at the shooting range because law enforcement isn't typically there, and obviously the people who are in charge of the shooting range really aren't looking to get their customers in trouble.
United States Department of Justice
Where the problem comes in is there are certain rules at shooting ranges. For example, if you buy bullets at the shooting range, a lot of times they take your ID or thumbprint. All of that information is sent to the Department of Justice.
So, I see cases all the time with all of a sudden, here comes the department of Justice of the local authorities
in Los Angeles to arrest somebody who is a felon who purchased bullets at a shooting range to practice shooting.
You could even purchase the bullets for somebody else, but if you're purchasing bullets, that's the same as possessing bullets and they're going to charge you with a felony and a crime, and if you have a prior criminal record and prior strikes, don't think they won't be looking to put you in prison.
These cases are very serious. You want to take them very seriously. I have had some success with them though when people are really not trying to do anything sinister and they just did something stupid because maybe they went with a friend or family member and they don't really have any guns or anything or aren't really trying to avoid law enforcement or break the law.
But, when the police see people shoot at a shooting range, they're going to go ahead and assume the person has guns. The next thing I see happening is they then go and execute a search warrant at their house or wherever they are living to try to find guns.
To try to charge them with possession of a weapon, and they figure where there are guns, there's probably other criminal activity.
I'm just telling you how law enforcement and prosecutors think when they see people with weapons, and now with all the political stuff going on, if you've got bullets, they're going to think that you have weapons and they are going to try to get you.
Felon in Possession of a Firearm
I've done a lot of one-bullet cases believe it or not – cases where somebody only has one bullet in their possession and they get charged with ex-con with a gun, and now they're looking at a felony, prison time and a whole big problem, when all they had was one bullet because again, depending who that person is, what their criminal record is, whether they have any gang affiliation, the police and the prosecutors are going to be looking at them and thinking they're up to no good.
Just because they didn't catch them in the act of firing a weapon or gang activity or committing some theft crime, or robbery doesn't necessarily mean that they're not doing something wrong.
If the police feel they can read between the lines – that someone is up to criminal behavior – even if it's a ticky-tacky problem like having a single bullet – a ticky-tacking thing like buying some bullets at a shooting range just so a family member can shoot.
They don't care. They're going to arrest you. They're going to file a police report. They're going to send it to the prosecutors and they're going to let the prosecutors decide whether they want to file that case, and if they do file it, what they want to do with it.
Lawyer to Negotiate With Prosecutor
So, if you've got a single bullet case or multiple bullets, or a case where you're caught at a shooting range, buying a gun, shooting a gun – anything of that nature – and you're now charged with a felony and are now looking at prison time – give me a call and we'll sit down and try to take this case outside of the scope of the policy which has them prosecuting people for weapons and bullets and being at shooting ranges and show them that you're really not up to anything bad and your leading an honest life.
Other indicators that show that you're not up to anything bad is if you're in a situation where you have a good job, you haven't been arrested in a long time and there's really no indication based on whatever it is they found – whether it be bullets or anything else – that you're up to criminal activity.
With that argument in my hip pocket as a criminal defense attorney, I'm going to be able to make some pretty good arguments for you and do what I can to keep you out of prison and hopefully avoid a conviction and all the other penalties that come along with this type of conduct.
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