Felon’s as-applied challenge to firearm statute rejected

The North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated a trial court order dismissing a felon-in-possession charge and held that the lower court erred in finding the state’s firearm statute unconstitutional as applied to the defendant under both the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions.

The State appealed from an order dismissing a charge under N.C.G.S. § 14-415.1, which prohibits firearm possession by convicted felons. The trial court had concluded that the

statute violated the defendant’s constitutional rights, reasoning that he was a “law-abiding and responsible person” entitled to Second Amendment protection.

The appellate court disagreed. The record showed that the defendant had six felony drug convictions and seven misdemeanor convictions, including communicating threats and violating a domestic violence protection order. He had never been pardoned or had any conviction overturned. The 4th Circuit determined that the trial court’s finding that the defendant had “no record of violence” was unsupported by competent evidence, as his prior convictions clearly reflected a pattern of criminal and occasionally violent conduct.

Although the defendant’s last felony conviction occurred more than twenty years ago, the court noted he had not remained conviction-free in the years following and did not have a history of lawful firearm possession. Applying the “public peace and safety” standard, the appellate court found that the defendant’s background demonstrated a “sometimes violent disregard for the laws of this State and the peace of its communities.” Accordingly, the as-applied constitutional challenge failed, and the case was remanded for further proceedings.

The 19-page opinion is State of North Carolina v. Williams, Lawyers Weekly No. 011-247-25.