firearms

Firearm curbs are part and parcel of a Virginia protective order  (also known as stay away and no-contact orders, commonwly issued in tandem with assault claims). As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I see such curbs as flying in the face of the letter and spirit...

Appeal after a Circuit Court trial conviction on an indictment, says Fairfax criminal lawyer Appeal your Virginia Circuit Court guilty finding at trial on an indictment. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer I say this (there are exceptions to every rule) because governing caselaw generally prevents...

Firearms, including handguns, are very popular to purchase. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I know that some people are so excited or anxious to buy the perfect weapon they have found at the right price -- whether for recreation, safety or both -- at a...

Fairfax criminal lawyer on the risks of fleeing suspects being convicted for nearby abandoned handguns Abandoned handguns can convict nearby fleeing suspects. I know this as a Fairfax criminal lawyer, and Calvin Cardale Townes learned the same, as affirmed this week by the Virginia Court of...

Firearm purchase applications -- actually consent forms for firearm dealers to run police background checks of the purchaser of a handgun or other firearm -- ask whether the purchaser has been convicted of a felony offense. Va. Code § 18.2-308.2:2.

Firearm convictions are possible without the weapon's recovery, at least when it has been fired. As a Virginia criminal/Second Amendment lawyer defending prosecutions for firearms, handguns, knives and other weapons, one of my first lines of defense in such cases is to attack whether the prosecutor...

Most crimes cannot be proven merely by committing the act -- known as actus reus -- but also require proof of criminal intent, known as mens rea. Generally, one of four levels of mens rea is required before a conviction may be obtained, namely purposeful,...

Some unpublished cases need to be published, including this month's Virginia Court of Appeals opinion concluding that the evidence was insufficient to convict a man driving a rental car without authorization, where the glove compartment contained a handgun and twenty grams of cocaine. Roy v....

The National Rifle Association may have its allies among lawmakers and Republican presidents and governors, but that does not diminish the harsh mandatory minimum prison sentences risked by those convicted for committing certain crimes in conjunction with possessing firearms, and those convicted of possessing firearms...