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I have a good friend of mine who has gotten two DUI's in the past couple of years. His birthday is coming up and I want to gift him one of my firearms because he has yet to own one and most his money is tied up in legal fees. My question is, would this be legal? As far as I know a DUI is not a felony so his firearm rights would still be in place, but I'm no lawyer so I'm hoping someone can give me some good information on this. Thanks for any help.

Justin
 
I am sure I am not the only one that will be thinking this, but..

Is this character responsible enough to even own a gun? He obviously does not have self control when it comes to drinking with not one but TWO DUI's. So how can you feel comfortable gifting him a firearm?
 
I'm simply looking for an answer to the question. I mean no disrespect by this, but you don't know the person who I am talking about. If I thought of him as a irresponsible or generally stupid person I wouldn't have thought about giving him this gift. I do appreciate the concern though.
 
Then to answer your question with no other input, why dont you just ask him if he is legally allowed to own a gun. The judge would of told him if he lost his rights to own a gun.

I was arrested and went to jail for a couple days on an assault charge years back and I was specifically told if convicted I would lose my gun rights and I did not even own any guns at the time. The case was soon dismissed and I was off free and kept all my rights in tact.
 
I just googled DUI laws in WA.. It says typically a DUI is not a felony. BUT it can a felony if there are prior DUI convictions, and then it is up to the judge if it is to be a felony or not.

(again I got the info from google so take it as you want to)
 
He's probably not a felon, but if you have any concerns - which you clearly do - simply make the transfer through an FFL or get a background check through the state.

It's generally a bad idea to guess about this kind of thing. Having an official background check done will at least keep you out of trouble if anyone's mistaken about your friend's record.
 
I dont know what Washington laws are but I do know Oregons. In Oregon, a DUII is not a felony unless you have more than 3 convictions within a 10 year period. So on your 4th DUII in a 10 year period it is a felony, punishable by a min. of 1 year in prison and a max of 5 years.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd DUII convictions (you may qualify for "diversion" on your 1st duii which will not go on your record as a conviction) in Oregon are Class A misdemeanors punishable by up to 1 year in jail, so technically getting a misdemeanor duii does not disqualify you from owning a firearm. However, everybody who gets a duii is put on 2 years+ probation, be it bench probation or supervised probation they are pretty much the same and in no countys can you own or possess a firearm while on probation. You will be denied trying to by a firearm if you apply while on probation.

So, if your friend has had 2 duiis, and mind you i dont know washington law i would have to guess he is on some form of probation and could not legally own a firearm.
 
DUI in Washington is a misdemeanor. Criminal traffic violation. Everyone here has done it, this guy got caught. YES you can buy handguns after you have 2 or 3 DUIs. Unless there are other felony charges, like drug posession, or felony eluding the police, then he should be fine. Simple DUI does not strip you of any rights..... Other than losing your driving priveleges.
 
BS. I haven't, and wont.

Some of us actually have proper judgement.

Sounds like you a good boyscout. Thanks for calling my BS.

"Everyone" was a mis-statement. "Lots of people" would have been better.

But the point was, that you can still own handguns, and vote, if you have a DUI.
 
If he's going through the legal battle right now, I would say he's not allowed to own or have a firearm. I would wait until the legal process is over then make the decision. The last thing you want to do is give him a firearm and have some freak situation happen that causes him to have further legal issues.

If he's a friend don't do anything to get him in more trouble.

I like the idea and know that people make mistakes. We don't always learn from the first mistake, but I hope he learns this time.
Buy him a case of o'doul's and be there for him. When things blow over then give him the gift.
In Ohio and maybe other places people who get a DUI or maybe it's more than one have to get a red license plate so people know, and police watch out. I think that's a great idea.
 
I just talked to him about all this, he told me the judge said nothing of his firearm rights being revoked. I appreciate all the input, a background check is what I'll do just to be safe. Although we grew up together so I anything he would have done I would have been right there with him:D
 
If he's going through the legal battle right now, I would say he's not allowed to own or have a firearm. I would wait until the legal process is over then make the decision. The last thing you want to do is give him a firearm and have some freak situation happen that causes him to have further legal issues.

If he's a friend don't do anything to get him in more trouble.

I like the idea and know that people make mistakes. We don't always learn from the first mistake, but I hope he learns this time.
Buy him a case of o'doul's and be there for him. When things blow over then give him the gift.
In Ohio and maybe other places people who get a DUI or maybe it's more than one have to get a red license plate so people know, and police watch out. I think that's a great idea.

He just finished all the court preceedings and is waiting to serve his time (which will start sometime this month) after which he has a month probation and after that comes his birthday. I should have mentioned this from the get go that his birthday is right after he finishes all this. That coupled with the fact that he is like family to are what makes this such a big deal to me (and him). Once again I really do appreciate all the concern and advice you guys have given (don't worry, I'm still doin the background check)
 
No, pointing out that saying that it's no biggie, everyones done it is BS, and that's just people trying to justify their own irresponsible behavior.

But hey, if the shoe fits......;)

Right-O.
We lose 115 Americans a day to MVA's, and nearly half of those aren't even in cars. Guess how many of those pointless deaths alcohol factored into.

Just like the pitbull that was always gentle and loving until it killed somebody, the drunk driver is an accident waiting to happen - literally. Scratch that, it's not an accident, it's intentional reckless endangerment.

The toll is equivalent to two jumbo jets going down per week, or a 9/11 every month. And that's just in the USA.

Once someone close to you is crippled or killed so stupidly, so pointlessly, so meaninglessly, you'll "get it."
 
Just like the pitbull that was always gentle and loving until it killed somebody, the drunk driver is an accident waiting to happen - literally. Scratch that, it's not an accident, it's intentional reckless endangerment.

To make that argument, you'd have to determine what percentage of drunk driving trips result in injury or death of somebody beside the drivers. I don't know the number off the top of my head, but it's something like 1 in 1000. In and of itself, taking an action knowing that it has a 1 in 1000 chance of harming another is not reckless. It's not even negligent.

It's still clear that drunk driving should be a crime, if only because it's horribly selfish and substantially more dangerous to society than sober driving, but this subject draws a lot more heat than light.
 

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