Also, if the misdemeanor was classified as a domestic violence offense you are prohibited for life from possessing firearms at the Federal level.
Not all misdemeanor DV crimes make a person a restricted person under federal law.
If we look at the statute it says:
(g) It shall be unlawful for any person—
(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9).
Now that makes it sound like any crime with a DV tag would qualify. However, that is not the case. The statute actually defines elsewhere what a "crime of domestic violence" is.
Qualifying Offenses: As enacted the statute defines "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" as any state or federal misdemeanor that -
"has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim."
This means that an offense that has a DV tag does not necessarily qualify. Nor does the fact that an offense does not specifically have a DV tag at the state level mean that it does not qualify.
An example: In my state we have to note the exact subsection of domestic violence assault that we are charging someone with in our charging documents. There are three subsections that are each assault.
Assault.
(1) Assault is:
(a) an attempt, with unlawful force or violence, to do bodily injury to another;
(b) a threat, accompanied by a show of immediate force or violence, to do bodily injury to another; or
(c) an act, committed with unlawful force or violence, that causes bodily injury to another or creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to another.
They do not each meet the federal definition and thus people do not get denied unless we have charged it out to a specific subsection that does meet the federal definition.
There are all kinds of crimes that get can a DV tag that do not meet the federal definition. For example (in my state) criminal mischief, threats, etc, etc.
When reading codes you need to read the definition sections so you know what words mean. They very often do not have the meaning one might think they would. Also one needs to read case law to see how the code has been interpreted.
For anyone interested here is more info on DV crimes and federally restricted persons.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm01117.htm
