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restraining order question

14K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  fridaddy 
#1 ·
Hello Gang,
I am new to this forum and need some help on an issue that a lawyer was not certain of today when I consulted with him about this.
It was free legal advice and I did not hire him.
I have a concealed carry permit and I just had a restraining order issued against me by an ex girlfriend for emails only nothing in the form of physical body harm what so ever so my question is do I loose my right to have a concealed permit forever or will I still be able to carry again once this restraining order expires?

I would really appreciate some help.
The restraining order I am not concerned about as there will be no further contact with her ever but i would like to once again carry my firearm after this is over.
 
#4 ·
No not yet anyway.
I have a temporary restraining order now with the court hearing on the 23rd but the restraining order paperwork says that I must surrender all guns and I cannot poses.My guess is the judge will up hold the restraining order for a period of time to ensure no further contact is made as the lawyer I talked to says the man goes into these hearings at a disadvantage to begin with and my chance of getting it dismissed is only about 30% even if I hire a lawyer.
He called it the fast food of justice and said you are in and out pretty quickly at these hearings.

This is all new to me so I really don't know how this will affect me.

Thanks for any help.
 
#5 ·
*Not and attorney*

Make sure you stay on top of this...orders of protection do not self-expire. Once the warrant is not longer active, you should be fine.

Hire a lawyer anyway...seriously. They are worth the tag to have in your corner....SERIOUSLY!

Even though they are SUPPOSED to give you your weapons back if you don't get convicted of any DV charge, as a matter of practicality, they won't, until you fight it (i.e., obtain a court order ordering their release).

Hopefully, one of our resident legal-types will be along shortly with more detail.

Good luck.
 
#6 ·
Thanks man,
The one and only lawyer I talked to yesterday said to wait about 6 months to 1 year and then after having had no further contact with the person hire a lawyer then and have the restraining order dismissed at that time.
He also said taking a lawyer into court with me to try and get this dismissed now is never a silver bullet and does ensure you will have it dismissed.

With the sue crazy society we live in if the judge dismissed the warrant and I did harm her {which will never happen} then the court could be held responsible for dismissing the order so it covers everybody butt's to leave it in affect for a period of time.

But like I said this is all very new to me and I appreciate everyone's help.
 
#7 ·
Thanks man,

With the sue crazy society we live in if the judge dismissed the warrant and I did harm her {which will never happen} then the court could be held responsible for dismissing the order so it covers everybody butt's to leave it in affect for a period of time.
I've been around the legal system most of my life...I've never heard of a court getting sued for an asinine decision....lord knows they happen often enough.

Orders of protection get denied all the time with horrifying results....heck, there's horrifying results even when they are granted. Pieces of paper aren't bullet proof. You read about it all the time.

You need to have an attorney with you at the hearing...really. 30% chance of it getting tossed is better than 0% and only one side of the story being presented effectively.
 
#8 ·
"Surrender your weapons"? How about giving them to mom and dad or a trusted friend or relative for safe keeping. No registration makes it hard for them to know AND you are not in possession as the order demands.

Check with an attorney on this (not free advice but an experienced specialist) and fight it all the way. Restoration of your license, IF they take it will be a nightmare and as things are going in Washington, may become impossible for you in the future.

Again, JMO and I am NOT a lawyer. You, however, definitely need one.
 
#10 ·
Lawyer up.

At the moment you are under an emergency order for protection from domestic violence [a temporary restraining order]. As you pointed out, it prohibits you from possessing firearms and has ordered you to surrender all firearms. That is standard. I have no idea of the contents of your emails, and I don't want to know. But, having an attorney at the preliminary hearing may keep the order from being made permanent [resulting in the same, or greater, expenditure to have it rescinded later] and may even result in it being set aside or modified. A standing order for protection from domestic violence will prohibit you from possessing a weapon.
 
#11 ·
resulting in the same, or greater, expenditure to have it rescinded later

Thanks thats a very good point.I have decided to go ahead and hire a lawyer now as advised by several forum members.
I had the postal service try to deliver a certified letter yesterday while I was at work from the state of florida agriculture & consumer services which I was unable to pick up yesterday so my guess is they are telling me to surrender my concealed permit.

I'm disapointed in myself for letting it get to this point in the first place but it is what it is now.

Thanks gang.
 
#12 ·
This is rough stuff. Wise move hiring a lawyer.
 
#13 ·
JAP30 did you ever strike or otherwise assault you ex-girlfriend at all? were you arrested for DV for simply having a loud shouting match? What I'm saying is what triggered the R.O. in the first place? If you didn't assault your ex physically then you stand a good chance of getting this overturned,whats her proof that your a danger to her or anyone else,because she says you are? I find it disturbing that a woman simply has to ask for a R.O. against a spouse and its granted,just like that?

Fight this FIGHT,FIGHT,FIGHT IT! If you did nothing wrong don't let them grind you down. If your gun rights are important to you don't take this laying down.
 
#14 ·
Unless things have changed dramatically in the past dozen or so years, it really IS that easy for a woman to strip a man of his RKBA... As just part of 'the game' of divorce by soon to be X-wife lied to get a RO against me. The fact that I wasn't even in town & had witnesses to that fact on the day she claimed I threatened her made no difference at all to the Judge.
 
#15 ·
Wow scary stuff I stand corrected on this. I know when I tried to get a R.O. against an ex girlfriend who was stalking me I almost got laughed out of the place. They thought because shes a woman she not a danger to me? Get real a female is capable of harming/killing an intimate partner as much as a man is,look at the Steve Mcnair case.

I had police reports and even a whiteness to her threats against me and she had a record for assaulting a previous boyfriend. Still no dice on the R.O. for me. So I simply watched my back for the next several months and kept my Ruger SP101 close by.
 
#16 ·
JAP30 did you ever strike or otherwise assault you ex-girlfriend at all?

Absolutely not,I never even made a verbal threat of violence at anytime during or after our relationship.This restraining order is based simply on several emails over the course of the last 6 months involving her sharing my personal information with a couple of my co workers that shes knows from working here in the past where we met which became heated but still not a verbal threat of any type of phsical harm to her.
We broke up on good terms and she continued letting me see her kids un supervised on the weekends for 6 months after the breakup before it came to a screeching halt and I have now learned that is because she has got back together with her ex husband who is the father of the kids so I am sure the halt was put in place by him but so be it they are not my kids.
Due to the emails which may constitute harassment in the courts eyes she wrote that she is in fear for her life and that of her kids and family which she knows is BS as I would give my life before I would ever let any harm come to those kids but she put it in a court order and it looks good to a non knowing party.She also said she is sure I am stalking her which I have never stalked anyone in my life and she has no proof of stalking because it does not exsit.

Yes I made some foolish choices but I was never nor am I a threat to her and she knows it.
The officer that brought me the restraining order said anyone can pretty much get one of these and it appears he is right.
She will never hear from me again after this because it is a new hard lesson learned.

There are always two sides to every story but I have to reason to lie here or to my lawyer as it would do me no good.

FYI to all interested in the outcome I do get my CW permit back after the restraining order expires according to a letter I received from the state suspending it so I feel a little better knowing it is not lost forever.

Thanks again gang.
 
#18 ·
THE onl ? I have is what if a LEO has a restraining order?? I know some one had to have one???
__________________
My lawyer covered this very briefly the other day as it does not apply to me but my understanding is exceptions can be granted if a firearm is needed in your current line of work to perform your job such as LEO or security guard.
I believe he also said the firearm cannot be carried during non working hours.
 
#19 ·
I wouldn't worry about LEO's in the same situation, I'd be focused on your own problems. I also know LE's who've had orders of protection. They get to carry on the badge while working which doesn't have any bearing in this particular thread.
 
#20 ·
Give your weapons to a responsible person you can trust for safe keeping PRONTO,( your dad,a friend anyone you can trust,and remember you gave them to them before you got your notice!!!!!!!) and I'm sorry but yes you are going to lose your rights to posses for a certain period,I'm not sure of the length of time,for some reason I'm thinking it might be 3 yrs. a lawyer should know if he's any good! Sorry dude,like said before get a GOOD lawyer and fight this,then learn your lesson well,never threaten anyone in writing that includes and e-mail!
 
#21 ·
Well gang,
I went to my hearing today and it went fairly well.
The restraining order will be in affect for only 6 months and the judge decided since no threat of physical harm was ever made nor happened he allowed me to retain my firearms.
I dont want to go into every detail as to why but I will say my lawyer earned his money by doing research on previous cases and driving home the point that I never threatened harm before or after at any point in our relationship.


The lawyer made all the differance today and I am glad I took the advice of several on this forum and hired one.$ well spent!!

It's been a long day and I have learned a good lesson.
 
#30 ·
Really glad to read this went off as well as it did for you. Don't forget, attys and judges are a brotherhood. A well presented argument with case history allows the judge leeway to be kind when no other evidence may hinder his judgment later.

Way to go and good luck

Stay sharp
 
#23 ·
EXTREMELY glad to hear that, JAP30. I can just about guar-an-tee that would not have happened without a qualified counselor at your side.

A good attorney is worth their weight in aluminum (just kidding, Buckley and fridaddy). :D
 
#25 ·
Thanks guys I appreciate the support.

Whats that old saying go something like : He who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client :)

I'm glad I did not try to save a buck $ and worried about saving my a@# instead.

I am mailing {certified mail} the dept of Agriculture and consumer services div of licensing a copy of my notarized court documents for their review/files.
 
#26 ·
I had a similar situation happen to me when I broke up with my ex-fiance. She did it out of spite though and knew I wouldn't hurt her. We went to court like 4 times during a 6 month period. Every time the Judge would ask her if she still wanted to keep it active and she would say "yes" and he would ask if I wanted contact with her and I told him "no" and he asked if we could make it permanent and I would detest. He would then reschedule a few months later and we went through the same thing,....over and over again. Finally after 6 months of me never contacting her, he told her not to bother to show up at the next hearing if I hadn't contacted her by then. I showed and he asked if I still wanted to dismiss it and I said "yes" so he did.
The key is that if you miss ANY appointment they will make it permanent and you loose your license for good. I gave my guns to my dad to hold so I was in compliance. They also told me to send in the license but I knew I would never see it again so I ignored the letter, but never carried or touched a firearm. After it was all said and done I wrote the Dept. of Agr. and had it re-activated. That to me was easier than sending it in and having to re-apply. I did however always carry that reinstatement letter with my license every time I carried just in case of a mess up on their end.
Hope it turns out as well for you. Good luck
 
#27 ·
Thanks for the info goldsamuri26.

My restraining order already has a set to expire date of Jan 23rd 2010 so I do not think I have to re appear unless violated which is not going to happen.

When you got your concealed permit back did you have to reapply for a new permit or did you continue to use your existing???

I sent them them {dept of Agr} a copy of my court orders showing n/a next to all firearms categories on the order so I am hoping {not sure though} they will allow me to continue to carry now.I'm waiting to hear back from the dept of Agr as the certified documents were just mailed out last Friday.
 
#28 ·
:clap
 
#29 ·
They simply sent me a letter of reinstatement. However I knew if I sent in my actual license I would more than likely had to start all over again so I avoided that. A couple months after that though I was very low on cash and let it expire (big mistake) and had to start the whole thing all over again anyway when I finally got the cash. That wont happen again though.
Congrats on the way it's turned out for you. I had a buddy agree with the judge on the issue of 'never having contact' with the ex on his similar situation, and he agreed just to hurry things up, not knowing it would affect his rights for the rest of his life. Now he regrets it. I say if you are innocent, fight it, fight it, fight it.
 
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