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My son-in-law was given a Bad Conduct Discharge for going UA from the Marine Corps - He was not dishonorably discharged - can he still own a firearm - UA OR AWOL is a purely military offense and there is no civilian equivelent - he was young and now wants to shoot and own firearms and never even tried because he thought he could not - I have seen his DD 214 and he did indeed get a BCD

I believe he cannot because he has been convicted of a felony. When I was in, the only way to get a BCD was as a result of a court-martial and that means he has a federal felony on his record.

I could be wrong on this, so I strongly suggest getting with a good attorney and having them check his record and confirm either way.


EDIT: I was doing some research and the discharge alone is not enough to ban him. ATF regulations defined the federal law ("discharged under dishonorable conditions") as just a dishonorable discharge for enlisted or a general court martial sentence to dismissal for officers not eligible for a DD.

This gets us back to the court martial itself that sentenced him to the BCD. Make sure it was not listed as a felony conviction and he would be good to go. He might also look at the upgrade procedures if it was less than 15 years ago. A straight AWOL/UA case seems like it should not have gone to a court martial and he might be able to argue it is inequitable.

I typed that exact question on Google and came up with different answers. It APPEARS that only a dishonorable discharge will disqualify you. Most suggest he go try to buy a gun and see what happens. IANAL but what I read sounds like he should be OK.

I think he should just call a JAG office and ask for advice. There seems to be a metric ton of confusion on what a BCD can legally mean. My understanding was the only discharge that equaled a felony outright and was an immediate dis-qualifier for firearms was a Dishonorable discharge but IIRC the amount of time spent in confinement could equal felony length even with a BCD.

I thought a BCD was dishonorable. At least discharged under less then honorable conditions. Why don't folks call the source for questions like this. I think it's called Dept. of Public Safety. They don't bite. I'm thinking the law reads you have to have a discharge under honorable conditions, (honorable discharge) which a BCD would not be under honorable conditions. Just call the DPS to be sure so he doesn't waste time and money.

The Wall wrote:I thought a BCD was dishonorable. At least discharged under less then honorable conditions. Why don't folks call the source for questions like this. I think it's called Dept. of Public Safety. They don't bite. I'm thinking the law reads you have to have a discharge under honorable conditions, (honorable discharge) which a BCD would not be under honorable conditions. Just call the DPS to be sure so he doesn't waste time and money.

You can still get a BCD for offences that aren't classified as a felony. It is handed down by a court-martial (Special or General). So it's going to prob depend on what he actual got the BCD for. Was it a special or general court martial? I believe it has to do something with being a General and time served over a year will make it a felony conviction, but I'm not sure how they count some of the other things. Domestic violence and a few other crimes will all so fall under felony.

A Dishonorable Discharge is given by a general court-martial. Normally for serious offences like desertion, sexual assault and murder. Things that would more than likely be all felonies. DD's prohibited you from owning a fire arm by US Federal Law per the Gun Control Act. Severed as a Legalman when I was in the Navy.

DO NOT GO TRY TO BUY A GUN. He can just easily go do his finger print part and pay the extra for his criminal records or even send off for his records from the local Sheriff or police station. Though I would make sure it's your full records not just a partial.