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Anne Arundel County Gun Lawyer

Gun charges are treated seriously in Anne Arundel County, in particular now because of all the publicized gun violence in the media and around the country. Anne Arundel County, and any county in Maryland, wants to ensure that people are in possession of guns lawfully and, if they are in possession of guns, that they are responsible gun owners.

Even people who have purchased guns lawfully may have them in their vehicle, on their person, or be carrying them or transporting them in an unlawful way. The State of Maryland takes those issues very seriously and wants to make sure that people do not simply walk around with a gun on their person without taking the proper steps to be trained, get it appropriately concealed, carrying the appropriate permits, and knowing how to properly operate and handle it.

Without those kinds of safeguards in place, it would be very difficult for the legislation to have any control over the law and its enforcement. For that reason, police are very involved in assuring that, while some guns are legal, they are also being transported or carried legally. With Maryland being so strict on gun law enforcement, it is vital to consult an Anne Arundel County gun lawyer if you are charged with a firearm related crime.

Common Firearm Offenses

Some of the most common gun offenses and firearm offenses in Anne Arundel County are the wear and carry, or the transport of handguns unlawfully. This usually just involves people who are regular people who own a gun lawfully. They might simply be using it for target practice, take it back and forth from the gun range, and absolutely not intend to use that gun unlawfully in any way.
But this can be considered careless transportation. They might just be pulled over for a routine traffic violation like a speeding ticket, and have the gun in their back seat. If an officer sees it, he will recognize that it is an improper way of transporting a firearm. Suddenly the driver may be facing criminal charges when they really had no intention of committing a crime.

That is the most common gun crime situation. Other circumstances include; when people are in possession of guns that are stolen; where there is no serial number; where they did not have lawful possession; or where they had some sort of disqualifying crime that kept them from owning or possessing a gun to begin with.

Those cases are far more serious and in some circumstances can carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years of incarceration or more. The seriousness of these penalties makes it essential that someone facing these charges have an Anne Arundel gun attorney working in their defense.

These cases are less common in Anne Arundel County and more common in places like Baltimore and Prince George’s County, but certainly those charges do exist.

Prosecution in Anne Arundel

The prosecutors treat these kinds of offenses very seriously and the reason that they treat these offenses so seriously is because guns have become a bigger problem in Anne Arundel County than they used to be.
When a person is in possession of a handgun, the government wants to make sure that they are being responsible about possessing it. The prosecutors will not take possession of your handgun if you have not committed any infractions associated with it or any disqualifying crimes. If you do commit such an infraction however, that is a trigger for the prosecution that your possession of that handgun might not be a responsible possession, and for that reason, they may take the position that you should no longer be in possession and should suffer some kind of a penalty for the infraction that you committed.

Potential Penalties For Gun Offenses

The potential penalties for gun offenses can range from years in jail, to probation, to being banned from carrying a weapon at all. It really depends on a person’s criminal history and the kind of charge that the individual might receive.

If a person was in possession of a handgun that they were properly licensed to have, but they had it in their car and it was not in the proper storage in the car, they probably would not get a period of incarceration from most judges.

What their penalties will be really depends on the type of offense and the person’s criminal history.

The Advantages of an Anne Arundel County Gun Lawyer

Having an Anne Arundel County gun attorney when facing firearm charges in Anne Arundel County is extremely important. Gun cases are unique because they take into account Fourth Amendment issues in most cases. Usually when a gun is held in a person’s home, on their person, or in their car, there are arguments that could be made by the defense about whether or not that gun is even admissible as evidence. How it was found and whether there was a warrant are issues that could be brought into court to exclude that material from the courtroom so that it cannot be used against the attorney’s client.

Having an Anne Arundel County gun lawyer who is well aware of that law—as well as the other requirements that the government must produce to move forward with cases like this, like having a gun test fired for example—is extremely important in a criminal prosecution of this case and for a defense attorney to spot when adequately representing their client for these charges.

Anne Arundel County Gun Lawyer
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