Advice When Buying a Gun in Virginia

If you are considering purchasing a firearm, first reach out to a strong defense lawyer for advice when buying a gun in Virginia. This way, you can avoid accidentally breaking any laws and facing charges simply for lack of preparation. An experienced attorney will be familiar with local laws and nuances, and will be able to guide and advise you through the process.

Important Considerations

When it comes to giving advice when buying a gun in Virginia, there are three important considerations to take into account.

• The first piece of advice is to make sure that the person is eligible to purchase the firearm. It is not just the prior conviction of a felony that can exclude a person from being able to buy one. There are a lot of different laws, both federal and state, that impact the eligibility to own a firearm in this country so an individual ought to be familiar with those.
• The second piece of advice is to be completely honest with the person that the individual is buying the gun from. Alongside that, it is important to be completely honest when filling out the form that is required in order to purchase a gun of any kind. The reason for that is because even a simple mistake — just an honest mistake — based on a lack of information or a misunderstanding of information on the part of the applicant can result in a felony charge being levied against the individual.
• The third piece of advice is to make sure that the person has a safe place to lock the gun up. This is to keep it out of the way from anybody that should not be handling it. If the gun falls into the wrong hands or is recklessly handled by someone in the household, the owner could be liable both civilly and criminally for their conduct.

Familiarity with Local Laws

There are any number of different mistakes a person could make. Therefore, it is that much more important to understand what the laws are and understand the questions that are going to be asked. It has happened where people misunderstood a form that they were filling out or they have wrong information about their own past, perhaps something that happened decades ago. That information would exclude them from being eligible to buy a gun, even if they just forgot about it or forgot how serious it was.

Application Form

The form is available online so a person can look at it at ahead of time and understand what those questions. If a person is unclear about any of the answers, it is important not to guess. This is because, if they guess wrong, they could end up in facing charges later on.

Firearm Law Reciprocity

As of 2016, Virginia does allow reciprocity with other states which means if a person has a concealed carry permit in another state, the person is allowed to carry a concealed weapon in Virginia as well. Virginia does not have gun registration requirements; the person does not need to worry about that piece of it. As of now, the person is allowed to carry a concealed weapon if the person has a concealed carry permit from another state.

How a Lawyer Can Help When an Individual Has Been Charged

If a person failed to seek advice when buying a gun in Virginia and consequently is charged with an offense, the first thing they should do is hire a lawyer. Once the person called, an experienced lawyer will look at the details of the case,  figure out what the law says, figure out what the exact charges are, and tailor a defense from there.

Understanding gun laws when buying a gun in Virginia can be a daunting task due to the number of local regulations. Even something as small as erroneous information on a form can be cause for charges to be levied against an individual. Often it is an honest mistake on the part of the applicant, but in the eyes of the court, the person is a potential felon.

Given that the prosecuting attorney will be professionally trained to convince the court of the defendant’s guilt, it is extremely advantageous for said defendant to retain professional counsel of their own. An experienced, local attorney will be well equipped to guide and advise an individual through what can be an intimidating and confusing process, all while building the strongest defense possible.