I have mixed feelings about this case coming out of Wyoming, regarding Wyoming’s process for restoring gun rights to people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
As my regulars know, people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence are barred at the federal level from owning firearms, however, each state has the right to expunge convictions from a person’s record.
Now, the genesis of my mixed feelings follows thusly: the BATF said to Wyoming “we don’t like your process, you can’t do that”; to which Wyoming said “screw you”. Unfortunately, the initial judge found in the favor of the BATF, which pisses me off to no end.
The following quoted section sums up nicely how I feel about the BATF vs. Wyoming issue:
“The BATF is attempting to administratively undo what Congress has legislatively done,” the AG’s brief states. “The BATF simply does not agree, on a policy basis, with the Wyoming Legislature’s decision and has self-appointed itself the omnipotent role of deciding who should, and should not, possess firearms.”
I agree wholeheartedly with the state of Wyoming in this case, and I believe that they have every right to use their own internal processes which do not violate federal law to restore gun rights to whomever they damn well please. The fact that the BATF is essentially trying to make law by executive fiat really gets me angry. That’s the job of Congress, and holy cow, guess what? They already made a law that covers this issue.
So, on the one hand, I’m not a big fan of the BATF, and the fact that the state of Wyoming is trying to stick it to them makes me very happy. On the other hand, I absolutely despise people who have been convicted of domestic violence. Honestly, to me, people who beat their wives/children are some of the lowest orders of scum that ooze about on this earth.
Wyoming says that they scrutinize every case wherein someone convicted of domestic violence applies to have their firearms rights restored. If they really truly do, then I have no problem with this program. However, it is my hope and fervent prayer that they don’t let some psycho slip through the cracks in the system.
In short; I do hope they win their appeal. It’s my opinion that the individual states have the right to overturn and expunge convictions of whomever they please; and that the BATF has absolutely no business whatsoever telling the states which laws they can and cannot have.
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Update: Uncle talks about it
