Pubdate: Wed, 10 Jul 2013
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2013 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198
Author: Dane Schiller

ARMY VET NOT GIVING UP FIGHT FOR RIGHT TO BUY GUN

Turned Down by FBI Over Misdemeanor 1971 Pot Case

A retired Army veteran who fired tanks, cannons and machine guns 
while protecting this nation recently asked theU.S. government for 
the green light to buy a .22-caliber rifle from a Walmart in Tomball. 
Permission denied. The FBI turned down Ron Kelly's application for 
gun ownership because of a 1971 conviction for minor drug possession.

He was busted with a small bag of marijuana while in high school in 
North Carolina. As a first-time offender, he was sentenced to a year 
of probation.

Two years later, right about the time the U.S. was with drawing from 
the Vietnam War and there was a hippie on every corner, he enlisted 
in the Army.

"I went on to serve 20 years," said Kelly, who often wears a 
camouflaged Army cap over his head of gray hair. "I had a top-secret 
clearance. It is amazing that they won't let me buy a gun for a 
misdemeanor 42 years ago."

He vows to continue to fight for what he says is his right to a gun 
in his home.

"I am ashamed of the way my government has treated me," said Kelly, 
who served as an infantryman as well as a scout and drill sergeant. 
"The government may have the greatest of intentions with the (law), 
but they messed it up."

Kelly, 59, is one of more than 881,000 people in Texas so far this 
year to have had their backgrounds checked as part of requests to buy 
firearms or explosives, and one of the few to be rejected. 'Something 
is not right'

The Lone Star State continues to lead the United States in the number 
of such checks, according to the FBI.

About 1 percent of them nationwide are denied, landing Kelly in the 
same situation as people who have renounced their U.S. citizenship, 
been dishonorably discharged from the military or convicted of 
domestic violence.

Nearly 600,000 denials since 1998 have come for the same reason Kelly 
was rejected- a criminal conviction. In Kelly's case, this amounted 
to a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years in jail.

Despite what potentially could have happened to him as a 17-year-old 
when he stood before a judge, Kelly got a slap on the wrist, and he 
says he has had no more run-ins with the law.

Alice Tripp, of the Texas Rifle Association, said it is "ridiculous" 
that an ex-soldier once entrusted with the weaponry ofwar is denied 
permission to own a gun because of a misdemeanor from so long ago.

"It is crazy. Something is not right," Tripp said. "This is the 
strangest thing I've heard of in my life."

In Durham, N.C., where Kelly was convicted, officials at the 
courthouse, the police department and the district attorney's office 
said he was arrested so long ago that records were not computerized 
or readily available, if indeed they could even be found.

No one seemed to know howthe FBI could have even known about such an 
old conviction. Burden on applicant

An FBI spokesman said he could not comment on questions specifically 
about Kelly's case but said if he feels he has been wronged by the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the burden is on 
the rejected applicant, not the government, to come up with the 
paperwork to make the case for a change in his status.

The background investigations, which are required by federal law for 
anyone wanting to purchase a gun, are done electronically and usually 
take just a few minutes.

Requests are made over the phone or online by firearms dealers, and 
the FBI churns them through a national database.

Kelly was told at the Walmart that his background review was delayed 
as there was something in his past that appeared to disqualify him 
from ownership.

He said he felt like someone wrongfully accused of passing a hot 
check when therewas plenty of money in his account.

He launched an appeal by getting his fingerprints taken at the local 
police department and sending them, along with the appropriate 
paperwork, to the FBI for review.

On the appeal application, he typed what has become his battle cry: 
He served honorably for 20 years in the Army and now is being denied 
the right to bear arms. Writing to Washington

Late last month, a letter from the Department of Justice arrived in 
the mail with his answer: Once again, no.

He was told that based on his prior conviction in North Carolina he 
could not own a gun. He also was told that he could challenge the 
decision by seeking out the records from his arrest.

Kelly said he was floored-but not defeated - by the letter and plans 
to keep trying.

He wrote this week to U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul and U.S. Sen. John 
Cornyn asking for their help.

"I am not going to give up," Kelly vowed. "I want to have a gun."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom