{"id":2433,"date":"2014-08-08T09:29:36","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T13:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=2433"},"modified":"2014-08-08T09:29:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T13:29:36","slug":"letter-army-vet-suffers-from-vague-gun-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=2433","title":{"rendered":"Letter: Army vet suffers from vague gun laws"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><strong>To The Editor,<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Letters1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-914728\" style=\"margin: 4px;\" alt=\"Letters1\" src=\"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Letters1.jpg\" width=\"140\" height=\"98\" \/><\/a>I am currently being prosecuted by the state of Pennsylvania for applying for gun ownership. \u00a0I am 31 years old, an army veteran, and recently applied to PICS (PA instant check system) to own a shotgun. \u00a0On this background check it asks if I have ever been adjudicated mentally defective or been 302&#8217;d (involuntary commitment). \u00a0I checked &#8220;no&#8221; to this question. \u00a0I have since been rejected for gun ownership and charged a felony for &#8220;knowingly lying&#8221; on this form.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>After I failed the background check (having technically committed said felony) I was informed by our state that I had been committed in the year 2000, as a minor- an event that I had no recollection of until the state sent me paperwork on it. \u00a0My mother committed me for &#8220;staying up too late, not going to school, and playing video games.&#8221; \u00a0I did not have any major mental issues and was non-violent and non-suicidal. \u00a0I have since gotten said medical paperwork which substantiates this. \u00a0<!--more--><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I am an army veteran (honorably discharged). \u00a0This event occurred 15 years ago and I did not remember it upon filling out this form. \u00a0I am now facing trial on felony charges because I applied for gun ownership and did not recall a 302 that occurred when I was a minor, despite the validity of the 302 having been for absurd circumstances.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I have a completely clean record prior to this fiasco. \u00a0I was temporarily locked up, cuffed, shackled to a bench and to a belt, fingerprinted and photographed, held in a room with criminals, have spent over $1000 on my lawyer so far (Phil Kline, PA gun attorney), and it is now affecting my job and personal life. \u00a0I cannot leave the state of PA despite having business trip arrangements which would require me to leave the country.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>This 302\/gun ownership law is extremely vague in the state of PA and I am someone that is now being turned into a martyr by the state for a &#8220;crime&#8221; that I did not purposefully commit. \u00a0This snowballed from an innocent memory lapse regarding a childhood event that should not be on my record due to the nature of the commitment.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>This gun law has turned a normal, hard working veteran with a clean record into a potential felon for applying to own one and is truly an example of how outrageous and unreasonable the system for gun ownership is becoming in this state. \u00a0I am now facing trial and am truly worried about the future of my life which I was previously very happy with.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>Robert Kavanagh<\/strong><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>Phoenixville<\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To The Editor, I am currently being prosecuted by the state of Pennsylvania for applying for gun ownership. \u00a0I am 31 years old, an army veteran, and recently applied to PICS (PA instant check system) to own a shotgun. \u00a0On this background check it asks if I have ever been adjudicated mentally defective or been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1783,1781,1782],"class_list":["post-2433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters-to-the-editor","tag-background-checks","tag-gun-laws","tag-pics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}