WEAPONS CHARGES
Fort Lauderdale Weapons Charges
If you’re involved with weapons and guns, and you’ve been arrested for violation of a criminal statute for the possession, unlawful discharge or illegal sale of firearms, you can face serious legal and financial consequences as a result. Weapons charges run the gamut from a misdemeanor to a felony, from a state to a federal crime, based on an individual’s criminal history, the time and place where the offense occurred, the amount of weapons involved, and the degree of injury. Involving a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney is one of the most important actions you can take in the face of allegations or charges of a Florida firearms offense.
10/20/Life Provisions
The Florida legislature recently enacted a 10/20/Life provision in an attempt to get tough on crimes involving firearms. In the State of Florida, weapons charges can carry a minimum mandatory sentence, which means if convicted, you must serve a certain amount of your sentence day for day in a Florida State Prison, including:
- Ten (10) years for the actual possession of a firearm;
- Twenty (20) years for the unlawful discharge of a firearm; and
- Life in prison for wounding or injuring any person with a firearm.
Keep in mind that these sentences are the minimum mandatory sentence that will be imposed upon conviction, meaning that the court can not impose a lesser sentence. The court still has discretion to impose a sentence up to the statutory maximum allowed for the particular offense. The Court can not “withhold adjudication” nor suspend or defer the imposition of the sentence.
Illegal Possession of a Firearm
Federal Law, 18 U.S.C. 922(g) and (n), sets minimum requirements which exclude certain groups of people from legally possessing a firearm, including any person who meets one of the following criteria:
- Has been convicted of felony which is defined as any crime which provides for a possible punishment of imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
- Is the subject of a court order that restrains the person from threatening, harassing, or stalking an intimate or domestic partner, former partner, or child of such partner;
- Has been convicted of any misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, including domestic battery or domestic assault;
- Is a fugitive from justice in any jurisdiction;
- Has been committed to a mental institution or has been adjudicated as having a mental defect;
- Is addicted to any controlled substance or is an unlawful user of any controlled substance;
- Is unlawfully in the United States, is an illegal alien, or is an alien that entered the country with a non-immigrant visa;
- Has renounced his United States citizenship;
- Has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces; or
- Cannot lawfully transport, ship, receive or possess a firearm.
In addition to the Federal laws that restrict firearm possession, each state has certain more restrictive legislation. Florida law legislation concerning the illegal possession of firearms include the following:
- If you have been convicted of a felony offense in the State of Florida or any other jurisdiction and your civil rights have not been restored;
- If you have been adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of any offense that would have been a felony if you had been charged as an adult;
- If you are under 16, unless the gun is not loaded and is at home under parental supervision;
- If you have been found in certain proceedings to be a drug addict, vagrant or mentally incompetent; or
- If you are subject to an active domestic violence injunction or charge.