MESA PHOENIX FEDERAL GUN CRIMES DEFENSE ATTORNEY

• Making any false or fictitious oral or written statement or to show any false, fictitious, or misrepresented identification intended or likely to deceive a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector in connection with the acquisition or attempted acquisition of any firearm or ammunition; or

• Manufacturing, importing, selling or delivering armor piercing ammunition unless certain exceptions apply.

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18 U.S.C. § 922 also describes federal gun crimes that apply specifically to licensed importers, licensed manufacturers, licensed dealers, and licensed collectors:

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• Selling or delivering any firearm or ammunition to any person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;

• Selling or delivering any firearm or ammunition to any person in any state where the purchase or possession by such person would be in violation of any State law or any published ordinance unless the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the purchase or possession would not be in violation of such State law or such published ordinance;

• Selling or delivering any firearm to any person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in the state in which the licensee's place of business is located unless certain exceptions apply;

• Selling or delivering to any person any destructive device, machinegun, short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle, except as specifically authorized by the Attorney General consistent with public safety and necessity;

• Selling or delivering any firearm or armor-piercing ammunition to any person unless the licensee keeps certain records;

• Knowingly making any false entry, failing to make appropriate entry, or failing to properly maintain any record which he or she is required to keep under federal law or federal regulation;

• Selling, delivering, or transferring a handgun to a person who is not licensed unless the federal requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 922 (s)-(t) are met or an exception applies; or

• Selling, delivering, or transferring any handgun to any person who is not licensed unless the person is provided with a secure gun storage or safety device for that handgun.  This is subject to exceptions.

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Click for a list of possible defenses.

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18 U.S.C. § 922(d) states that it is unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person:

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•  Anyone who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year;

• Anyone who is a fugitive from justice;

• Anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;

• Anyone who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;

• Anyone who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States;

• Anyone who has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces;

• Anyone who has renounced his or her United States citizenship;

• Anyone who is subject to a valid court order that restrains him or her from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of an intimate partner or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; includes a finding that the person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the intimate partner or child; or by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or

• Anyone who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

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Click for a list of possible defenses.

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18 U.S.C. § 922(e) states that it is unlawful for any person knowingly to deliver or cause to be delivered to a person without a valid license any package or other container which contains any firearm or ammunition without written notice to the carrier that such firearm or ammunition is being transported or shipped.

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18 U.S.C. § 922 (h) states that it is unlawful for any person who knows that his or her employer is a prohibited possessor under (g) to receive, possess, or transport any firearm or ammunition in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce while in the course of his or her employment.

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18 U.S.C. § 922(i)-(r), (u), (x) and (z) state that it is unlawful for any person to do any of the following:

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• Transporting or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, any stolen firearm or stolen ammunition, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the firearm or ammunition was stolen;

• Receiving, possessing, concealing, storing, bartering, selling, or disposing of any stolen firearm or stolen ammunition, or pledge or accept as security for a loan any stolen firearm or stolen ammunition, involved in interstate or foreign commerce, either before or after it was stolen, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the firearm or ammunition was stolen;

• knowingly transporting, shipping, or receiving, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm which has had the importer's or manufacturer's serial number removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any firearm which has had the importer's or manufacturer's serial number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce;

• Knowingly importing, bringing or receiving into the United States or any possession any firearm or ammunition subject to certain exceptions;

• Transferring or possessing a machinegun subject to certain exceptions;

• Manufacturing, importing, selling, shipping, delivering, possessing, transferring, or receiving any altered firearm that is now not detectable by walk-through metal detectors or any component which does not generate an x-ray image that accurately depicts the shape of the component;

• Knowingly possessing a firearm that affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the person knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.  Many exceptions apply to this crime.

• Knowingly or with reckless disregard for the safety of another firing or attempting to fire a firearm that affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the person knows is a school zone.  Many exceptions apply to this crime.

• Assembling from imported parts any semiautomatic rifle or any shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under federal law subject to certain exceptions;

• Stealing or unlawfully taking or carrying away from a properly licensed person or his or her premises any firearm in the licensee's business inventory that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

• Selling, delivering, or transferring a handgun or ammunition for a handgun to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a juvenile.  This is subject to many exceptions; or

• Knowingly possessing a handgun or ammunition for a handgun if the person is a juvenile.  This is subject to many exceptions.

 

Penalties for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922 range from a fine to imprisonment for not more than 10 years depending on the section violated and the facts under which the violation occurred.  A licensee may also have his or her license suspended or revoked.

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DEFENSES FOR FEDERAL GUN CHARGES IN ARIZONA

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A federal gun crimes charge can be very complicated factually and legally.    Lisa is a detail-oriented defense attorney who will thoroughly evaluate your case and determine if one or more of the following potential defense strategies apply:

 

• Act described is not a federal gun crime:  The act described in the indictment may not fit the statutory definition of a federal gun crime.

 

• No intent to commit a federal gun crime:  You may not have the intent required to commit a federal gun crime.

 

• Entrapment:  The government may have entrapped you into committing the gun crime.

 

• Statutory exception applies:  A statutory exception to the gun crime may apply.

 

• Missing or tainted evidence:  Sometimes the government’s evidence is missing or tainted. 

 

• Government witnesses are not credible:  The government’s witnesses may be mistaken or not telling the truth about what happened.

 

• Implausibility of government’s story:  The government’s story may be implausible based on the timeframe or other evidence.

 

• Federal law enforcement misconduct:  There may be federal law enforcement misconduct in investigating the charge, collecting the evidence, interviewing the victim and witnesses, or obtaining your confession.

 

• Preclusion of government’s evidence:  The government may have violated your constitutional rights or otherwise acted illegally in obtaining evidence or your confession resulting in the preclusion of evidence.

 

• Insufficiency of government’s evidence:  The government may have insufficient evidence to prove a federal gun crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

• Reduction in number of counts: Each count of your indictment should concern a separate criminal act or victim and not be parts of the same federal gun crime.

 

• Prosecutorial misconduct:  There may be prosecutorial misconduct in disclosing the evidence, interviewing victims and witnesses, and in the general course of your case.

 

• Possible other defenses to gun crime:  Depending on the unique facts of your case, there may be other possible defenses.  Lisa employs logical, bottom line analysis while thinking outside the box so she may come up with a novel defense that no other attorney has thought of before.

 

If you or a loved one is facing a charge of a federal gun crime, it’s very important to hire a thorough and passionate defense attorney who will fight for you as soon as possible.  Call LisaLaw, LLC or fill out the on-line form for a free case review.