TEXAS LTC ELIGIBILITY QUESTION

[JaggerDallas]

Background, for all other qualifications I am eligible for a Texas LTC. I moved here from Illinois and am now a Texas resident with a Texas driver's license and address. The issue I can't seem to find an answer too, I was arrested in Illinois about 2- years ago for a misdeamnor for unlawful possession of ammunition. Long story short. The ammo was legal for my father and it was in his truck. Unfortunately I was driving the vehicle so I was arrested after getting stuck in the snow and asking an officer for help. Illinois is the only state i know of that requires a special permit to be in possession of ammo. When I went to court the whole thing was kind of shrugged off and they just told me to stay out of trouble for 60 days and it was dissmised. Which I believe counts as deferred adjudication.. Since this is considered a conviction in terms of LTC may I Still be eligible since the "crime" is not considered a crime in Texas?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Ps it was a small box of .22 rounds with no gun, Illinois laws are absurd. I'm happy to be living in the great state of Texas!

[Jusme]

Background, for all other qualifications I am eligible for a Texas LTC. I moved here from Illinois and am now a Texas resident with a Texas driver's license and address. The issue I can't seem to find an answer too, I was arrested in Illinois about 2- years ago for a misdeamnor for unlawful possession of ammunition. Long story short. The ammo was legal for my father and it was in his truck. Unfortunately I was driving the vehicle so I was arrested after getting stuck in the snow and asking an officer for help. Illinois is the only state i know of that requires a special permit to be in possession of ammo. When I went to court the whole thing was kind of shrugged off and they just told me to stay out of trouble for 60 days and it was dissmised. Which I believe counts as deferred adjudication.. Since this is considered a conviction in terms of LTC may I Still be eligible since the "crime" is not considered a crime in Texas?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Ps it was a small box of .22 rounds with no gun, Illinois laws are absurd. I'm happy to be living in the great state of Texas!

First off welcome to Texas and the forum. I am not a lawyer, but I would try to acquire all of the documents related to the Illinois charge, and include them with the application, just so it doesn't show up during the background check without them.

I had no idea that you had to have a permit for ammo in Illinois. I guess only the law abiding follow that law, because I'll bet most Chicago street thugs don't have the proper ammo permits.

Revel in your new found freedom here in Texas, you can have any ammo you want, in any amount without permits. Also most of the police wont arrest you when you ask for help.

[bblhd672]

First, welcome to Texas from another recent prisoner, I mean resident, of the socialist state of Illinois.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to whether your misdemeanor conviction in IL will affect your LTC eligibility. As a I learned when I joined this forum, there are lots of knowledgeable people here who may be able to give you guidance.

Do you have all the paperwork from the incident if DPS needs to see it? Hopefully the Texas process will recognize that the misdemeanor offense in IL is not an offense in TX and approve you.

Best of luck!

[TexasTornado]

Background, for all other qualifications I am eligible for a Texas LTC. I moved here from Illinois and am now a Texas resident with a Texas driver's license and address. The issue I can't seem to find an answer too, I was arrested in Illinois about 2- years ago for a misdeamnor for unlawful possession of ammunition. Long story short. The ammo was legal for my father and it was in his truck. Unfortunately I was driving the vehicle so I was arrested after getting stuck in the snow and asking an officer for help. Illinois is the only state i know of that requires a special permit to be in possession of ammo. When I went to court the whole thing was kind of shrugged off and they just told me to stay out of trouble for 60 days and it was dissmised. Which I believe counts as deferred adjudication.. Since this is considered a conviction in terms of LTC may I Still be eligible since the "crime" is not considered a crime in Texas?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Ps it was a small box of .22 rounds with no gun, Illinois laws are absurd. I'm happy to be living in the great state of Texas!

Ok so IANAL, but I think your best bet would be to get that expunged from your record BEFORE you file for your LTC. Since it was a misdemeanor and assuming a first offense and you stayed out of trouble the required amount of time, expunging it should not be an issue.

As far as the crime in question not being a crime in Texas, they are wanting to know that you have been law abiding, not that you would have been law abiding if you were somewhere else. Also with it being a crime related to weapons in any way, that may factor against you as well.

If it were me, I would just get the charge taken care of before I submitted my application.

[JaggerDallas]

Thank you for the responses. And im sorry to hear youve had to expierence Illinois. Ill never forget the newpaper headline celebrating Rockford lllinois going nearly 3 weeks without a shooting saying that was the longest in years... ill have to contact my attorney for the paperwork since the prosecution granted me permission to move to Texas prior to court. But I'll have them fax me anything they have if it will help. Also I am eligible for expungement it was just a matter of time and money being worth the effort to file for it. I guess I was hoping I wouldn't need to.

[TexasTornado]

Thank you for the responses. And im sorry to hear youve had to expierence Illinois. Ill never forget the newpaper headline celebrating Rockford lllinois going nearly 3 weeks without a shooting saying that was the longest in years... ill have to contact my attorney for the paperwork since the prosecution granted me permission to move to Texas prior to court. But I'll have them fax me anything they have if it will help. Also I am eligible for expungement it was just a matter of time and money being worth the effort to file for it. I guess I was hoping I wouldn't need to.

You'll thank yourself for it later not just for this instance, but when it doesn't come up on employment backgrounds and ever other thing. You know how liberal pansies can be, they'll see the word ammo and put your resume to the bottom of the stack.

[RPBrown]

IANAL but there are 2 ways to look at this, 1 good and the other not quite so good.
(1) If I am not mistaken, it would depend on what class misdemeanor it would be in Texas. A,B, or C. If its a C, you are good to go. However, if A or B, you have about 3 more years to go. The good part , I think, would be this is not a law in Texas as long as you meet the age requirements to purchase ammo.
(2) The not quite so good part is you may have to wait 5 years from your sentencing if it is classified as an A or B.

If one of the legal eagles see this I think they could clarify what it would be.

[C-dub]

What would be cool is if the Texas DPS office that handles LTCs would see this application and get a good laugh and bump your application to the head of the line. Seriously, though, even if it is a Class A or B in IL, but not a crime at all in Texas, is that something that should be an issue at all for the OP?

[Keith B]

Actually, it may not be a true deferred adjudication, but a dismissal. Many times the Prosecutor will just hold the case as pending and if you pass their time frame of staying out of trouble, then they dismiss the charges.

My nephew had a similar issue where he was caught with a small amount of marijuana about 4 years ago. He wanted to take my concealed carry class. He wasn't sure of the disposition, so I went by the prosecutor's office and it showed they had dismissed the charge after a year of being in no trouble.

Hopefully that is what you find when you get the copy showing the official disposition of the issue.

[RedRaiderCHL]

Background, for all other qualifications I am eligible for a Texas LTC. I moved here from Illinois and am now a Texas resident with a Texas driver's license and address. The issue I can't seem to find an answer too, I was arrested in Illinois about 2- years ago for a misdeamnor for unlawful possession of ammunition. Long story short. The ammo was legal for my father and it was in his truck. Unfortunately I was driving the vehicle so I was arrested after getting stuck in the snow and asking an officer for help. Illinois is the only state i know of that requires a special permit to be in possession of ammo. When I went to court the whole thing was kind of shrugged off and they just told me to stay out of trouble for 60 days and it was dissmised. Which I believe counts as deferred adjudication.. Since this is considered a conviction in terms of LTC may I Still be eligible since the "crime" is not considered a crime in Texas?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Ps it was a small box of .22 rounds with no gun, Illinois laws are absurd. I'm happy to be living in the great state of Texas!

IANAL but as an LEO my opinion would be that it depends on the level of charge in the state. In this state a Class A misdemeanor or higher prohibits you from getting a CHL and a Class B can make it difficult or keep you from getting one for a while. Odds are if you completed deferred adjudication then you will be fine. Would just depend on what the background investigators see when they run your criminal history.