Hart Powell, S.C. Petitions the Wisconsin Supreme Court to Protect the Right to Bear Arms for Individuals with Non-Violent Records

Not all felony convictions justify the denial of an individual’s right to bear arms.  Hart Powell, S.C. attorneys Craig S. Powell and Geoffrey R. Misfeldt are attempting to make that case to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  Hart Powell, S.C.’s client is a 44-year-old small business owner with a felony conviction for forging some checks with friend when he was a teenager.  He received a sentence of probation and restitution, which he completed without incident.  Over 25 years later, he has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and accused of registering with the DNR two deer he shot with his father’s gun.

Under current Wisconsin law, a person who has been convicted of a felony in the past cannot legally possess a firearm.  Attorneys Powell and Misfeldt have argued to the Washington County Circuit Court and Wisconsin Court of Appeals that this law is unconstitutional, prohibiting even those individuals with non-violent and dated criminal histories from owning guns for self-defense or hunting.  The lower courts have so far upheld the law as constitutional, but the attorneys of Hart Powell, S.C. have petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review the case.  A decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on whether it will hear the case is likely to come before the end of the year.