Firearms Offenses 

For decades now, federal and state prosecutors have relied on firearms charges as simple ways to target and prosecute people whom they believe pose dangers to their communities. This tactic has drawn substantial criticism for years, because it has had particularly strong impacts on the poor and on communities of color. For example, federal authorities often bring charges against people who have a felony conviction, and who are then found in possession of a firearm. For many who have served a sentence and are trying to move on with their lives, this can be particularly cruel.

For many years, charges like these were simple, and devastating – proving that a person has a prior felony, and that they possess a gun, is quite simple. In recent years, however, the Supreme Court has adopted a new framework for reviewing laws around things like criminal possession of firearms and ammunition, and opened up a range of possibilities for attacking these charges. These challenges are often very challenging, and require an enormous amount of research and creativity to argue effectively.

So too, federal and state law strictly regulate the manufacturing and distribution of firearms. Here, technical questions can often be the key to a defense. Challenging prosecutors on what constitutes a “firearm” or a “full automatic” firearm, or disputing whether a gun ever crossed state lines, can make the difference.

When facing potential firearms charges these days, key questions to consider will include the following.

• Whether the criminal law at issue still available to use in the case. Firearms charges now require significant amounts of research and analysis, and that work can possibly help get a case thrown out.

• Whether, in a federal case, there are grounds to attack the prosecution because the guns did not affect interstate or international commerce, or because they are not “firearms” as defined in the law.