Florida’s Convicted Felons Don’t Have To Surrender Guns To Authorities, U.S. Supreme Court Rules

Florida’s convicted felons don’t have to surrender guns to authorities, according to a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling made on Monday. Reuters reports that felons in the state don’t have to give up their firearms — they just need to transfer them to someone else.

The nation’s highest court ruled 9-0 that felons may transfer their guns to someone else rather than surrendering them to authorities. This decision was made by siding with a former U.S. Border Patrol agent from Florida convicted on marijuana charges, according to the report. Justice Elena Kagan cites a federal law prohibiting felons from possessing firearms. This doesn’t prevent ownership of guns from being transferred to another person.

On the flip side, Kagan notes that a transfer would be allowed as long as the judge overseeing the case makes sure that the convicted felon is forbidden to retain control over the use of the weapons.

The case in this Florida ruling involved Tony Henderson, who pleaded guilty to distributing marijuana and other drug offenses in 2007. He was sentenced to six months in prison. After Henderson was arrested on drug charges, he voluntarily surrendered 19 guns to the FBI. After his conviction, he aimed to sell the weapons either to a friend — or to transfer them to his wife under her name. As WROC 8 writes, some of the firearms Henderson owned were family heirlooms and had no connection to his crimes. The government denied his requests, but Judge Kagan wrote in her decision that interpretation would extend the law “far beyond its purpose.”

“What matters here is not whether a felon plays a role in deciding where his firearms should go next,” Kagan wrote. She continued that the real question is “whether the felon will have the ability to use or direct the use of his firearms after the transfer.”

This case regarding Florida’s convicted felons not having to surrender their guns will reportedly go back to lower courts to see if Henderson’s request to transfer his guns will be granted.

Henderson has already been denied these requests prior to this controversial decision within the Supreme Court. A federal judge had refused his request to sell the guns, and the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied him, as well, in a ruling in January.

Reuters adds that the case of Henderson v. United States, U.S. Supreme Court, is Case No. 13-1487.

Do you agree with the judge that convicted felons in Florida shouldn’t have to surrender their guns?

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