When can I lose my right to own a gun?
If you are like many Pennsylvania residents, your Second Amendment right to bear arms is very dear to you. If you are like most gun owners, you are a good person who possesses, stores and uses his or her guns in a highly responsible manner. Even a good person, however, can make a mistake and lose his or her right to own a gun.
Section 6105 of the Pennsylvania Code lists a number of ways in which you could lose your right to possess a gun as well as to use, sell, transfer or manufacture one, including the following:
- You were convicted of a crime under Pennsylvania’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act
- You were convicted of three or more DUI offenses within five years
- You are in the United States illegally
- You have an outstanding protection from abuse order against you
- You were adjudged incompetent or committed involuntarily to a mental institution
- You were adjudged delinquent as a juvenile
Criminal convictions resulting in loss of gun rights
You also could lose your right to possess and own a gun if you were convicted of committing 38 other enumerated crimes, including the following:
- Murder
- Rape
- Kidnapping
- Voluntary or involuntary manslaughter
- Aggravated or indecent assault
- Burglary or robbery
Such convictions and/or adjudications are not limited to those you receive in Pennsylvania. They apply to all such convictions, both federal and state, wherever they occurred.
If you lose your right to possess a gun but do so anyway and are convicted of this felony, you could serve a substantial prison sentence. This is general information only and is not intended to provide legal advice.
