Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

hi, my name is Daniel and 2 years ago I was pulled over for speeding. the officer asked if I had any drugs or weapons in the car and I told him I had a handgun in the back seat in a case, I was pulled out of the car, my car was searched and handcuffed and taken to jail.
Now the handgun was legal and registered to me, and was unloaded and in a hard plastic gun case.
I got a lawyer and went to court, but it just so happened that my court case came the day after the Virginia Tech. shootings and I was told the gun was concealed (no CCW permit) because it was inside the hard case and the officers could not see the gun (my lawyer obviously did not get the rest of his money) and I was charged with a concealed weapon charge and sentenced to 2 months in jail.
It was the first time I had ever been in trouble to the point where I have only had 1 speeding ticket and no criminal charges, and I am 26.

They took my gun and my question is, am I able to get it back? I know I can prob. never get a CCW now, but I think I should be able to get my gun back.

Any help would be great and I figured if anyone would know, you guys would haha.

Thanks alot.

just because its in the case doesn't mean its concealed. If im right its suppose to be in the case and the case is suppose to be in plain sight where the officer could see it.

dont know about if you can get your gun back....

Daniel, first of all welcome to VGOF. Not sure what you can do about getting you gun back other than seeking legal help. You can also ask the station HQ of the arresting officer. In the meantime here's a link to VASP which discusses transporting firearms for future reference.

http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms.shtm

I have a CHP and when I carry more than one like a range trip I lock the extras in the trunk just to be on the safe side. Lots of knowledgeable folks here and perhaps someone can help. Good luck.

Btw, feel free to post a note in the http://vagunforum.net/new-members/ topic so you can get an appropriate welcome.

First off, welcome to the group. NUMBER ONE: Get in touch with the VCDL and see about getting a REAL lawyer. I am not a lawyer but I think you got railroaded here bud. Was there any ammo in the gun or the case? If it was a semi-auto, was there a loaded magazine in the box as well?

herohog wrote:First off, welcome to the group. NUMBER ONE: Get in touch with the VCDL and see about getting a REAL lawyer. I am not a lawyer but I think you got railroaded here bud. Was there any ammo in the gun or the case? If it was a semi-auto, was there a loaded magazine in the box as well?

Spot on Speedy. Not thinking straight this morning. VCDL contact is definitely the best thing to do.

Welcome Daniel, Have you contacted the NRA along with VCDL. You will find member of both at the gun show this weekend at RIR
Good Luck

^ yeah i'd contact the NRA and the VCDL.

Welcome to the forum. Everyone else has pretty much given the only advice possible. Get in touch with VCDL, assuming you were in VA when you got pulled over. You reference the VA Tech shooting but do not say where you were pulled over. That will have an impact, the above answers will not help much if you weren't in VA. I am sure everyone assumed you were in VA when they provided an answer. So before going any farther- What state did this happen in?

Great point, Gary.

Locked temporarily.

Moccasin wrote:Locked temporarily.

Now unlocked and available for response. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Daniel, you can find a list of gun friendly lawyers in your area at the HKShooter site. This list is maintained by one of the VCDL's Executive Members. Good luck, I hope everything works out for you.

http://www.hkshooter.net/lawyers/

18.2-308 of the VA Code-

"For the purpose of this section, a weapon shall be deemed to be hidden from common observation when it is observable but is of such deceptive appearance as to disguise the weapon's true nature."

Key would be that it was in a gun case, if so it shouldn't be considered "hidden from common observation.

18.2-308 also says- "this section shall not apply to:..... 3. Any regularly enrolled member of a target shooting organization who is at, or going to or from, an established shooting range, provided that the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported; 4. Any regularly enrolled member of a weapons collecting organization who is at, or going to or from, a bona fide weapons exhibition, provided that the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported; 5. Any person carrying such weapons between his place of abode and a place of purchase or repair, provided the weapons are unloaded and securely wrapped while being transported;"

Should have been able to claim one of those. But after 2 years I don't know what could be done. It should have been a Class 1 misdemeanor which shouldn't disqualify you from getting a CCW.

Thanks for all the quick responses.

yes I was in VA when I was pulled over.
The clip was not in the gun, nor was the clip loaded but the empty clip and some ammo were in the case along with the gun. It was in my car from going to the range and I just never took it out but I made sure it was in plain view in the back seat.
I too thought that being in a gun case was fine, but the officers said they could not tell that it was a gun case by looking through the window of my car, which I think is pretty much BS, but I got a lawyer and everything seemed fine until I got to court, thats when my lawyer seemed to be taking a nap.

its all over and done with now, so it doesnt bother me too much, but it has ruined my record and has made it hard for me to get any real jobs. I finally got accepted to become a game warden right before this happened

i did not know there was a gun show this weekend at RIR, I will def. have to make my way out there. I have not talked to the NRA and I knew nothing of VCDL. I have never been real big into guns, just liked to shoot some and of course for protection, so please forgive my ignorance in all this haha.

You need to talk to the VCDL and you need to find out more about them. They are THE Grass roots gun rights organization in VA. Again, I am not a lawyer but I seem to think you can get that bogus ruling overturned and clear your record with the proper gun rights aware lawyer.

I am on their website right now, trying to find my way around the website haha.
I was getting ready to say that I couldnt find a way to get in touch with them but they have a bunch of numbers to call right at the top haha.

I cant get the time back that I had to serve in jail and i really just want it to be over and done with.
I just moved back to VA from CA and havnt been able to find a job, so I dont really have the extra money to hire a lawyer at the moment.
Its been a vicious circle.

Gun in a case, on the back seat and unloaded.Sounds to me like you got the shaft big time. I doubt if they still have your gun but if it went the way you said it did they owe you, more than the cost of a gun.

I think it would be well worth your time and money to get this straightened out, just to have the charge removed from your record if nothing else.

dmharvey wrote:I think it would be well worth your time and money to get this straightened out, just to have the charge removed from your record if nothing else.

I agree. I've even seen where apartments run background checks here in VA in addition to credit checks. If you can get it overturned to not guilty you can also have the record expunged so it goes away for good. It might be worth your effort.