Students’ Criminal Background Check

[JoCannonIV]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

[ScottDLS]

Good luck with your LTC. If you received a pardon from the Governor you sure did it the right way. I'm assuming President Obama is not handing out full Federal pardons that restore gun rights. President G.W. Bush did a few, so maybe he is.

Anyway, should you get a rejection from RSD, you should have an easy win on appeal. Also, make sure that expungement gets the conviction cleared out of as many govt. databases as possible.

[Flightmare]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Thankyou for sharing your story. Keep your chin up and keep fighting. One day, I hope to call you a fellow licensee.

[Javier730]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

on getting everything together. I hope you get your LTC. Just so you know, I waited about 4 months for my CHL.

[GlockShooter56]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Thankyou for sharing your story. Keep your chin up and keep fighting. One day, I hope to call you a fellow licensee.

[Pariah3j]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

This is a perfect example of why god given rights should not be allowed to be 'cooled'/'restricted'/'stripped' for an indefinite period of time. They are god given rights, not government granted. We sentence people to prison/jail to serve penance, they are suppose to have repayed their debt to society after serving that term. Yet they have many of these right stripped from them indefinitely. Yes, yes, I know - think of the children or some other such non-sense. Freedom is sometimes messy and ugly, people are going to make bad decisions but it doesn't mean they can't correct course and redeem themselves.

[BCGlocker]

This is an extremely sensitive subject for me.

On February 15, 2016 I took my CHL Class (they took everybody's drivers license) and the whole time I was sitting there I was thinking somebody is going to come and ask me to leave (they didn't).

I have lived with the same kind of scrutiny that I have read in some of the post here. When I was 18 years old (1988) I was caught up in a bad situation, arrested and scared for the rest of my life with the dreaded F word hanging over my head. There was no violence involved, no victims, nothing was stolen, nobody was hurt, the only people that were effected was me and my family. It was a the beginning of the war on drugs and I was one of the victims. I honestly thought I was doing somebody a favor (delivery of a controlled substance, the substance is now legal in a lot of states).

From that point forward it has been an uphill battle every day, including today just thinking about posting this reply. If you haven't been there it is hard for you to understand (even writing this reply now brings up bad feelings).

I have worked extremely hard in my life to get where I am today despite the negatives associated with my background. I was denied entry into the military, denied housing, there was a point when I was denied student loans (until the law was changed), and I have been denied employment. There are people out there that once they are charged with a crime they feel that there is no hope of ever getting out from under that dark cloud.

I decide that my life and my future was mine and I was going to make the best of it.

Despite the challenges - I have earned a bachelors degree in Environmental Studies, I am a branch manager of a multi-million dollar environmental consulting firm. I have several employees and their families that depend on me everyday. I was upfront with my employer about my history and he gave me a chance. I can promise you he doesn't regret it either.

It took me 27 years to get the scares of my past removed, every thing was sealed in 2014 and I received an unconditional pardon including the right to bear arms in December of 2015. I did it the right way, to this day I have never purchased a firearm (do not want the embarrassment of being denied). I plan on going on a shopping spree at Cabela's in the near future.

On February 16, 2016 I uploaded all of documents to the RSD and received my confirmation that they received it. Because of my due diligence and always thinking something is going to go wrong I discovered that a law enforcement agency was still reporting my record to the FBI even though they were issued a court order to seal the records. I then had to upload all of the court documents including my pardon to the RSD (which I shouldn't of had to do by law). I then contacted the agency reporting the sealed record and had them seal the record and send me a letter that they complied with the court order and uploaded that to the RSD. To my surprise it only took them 5 days to get me the letter.

I have contacted the RSD three times since the 16th of February. Every time it is a different story and most of the time they have an attitude. If my business increased by 139% I would have an attitude to, a very cheerful and positive attitude (difference between government and private).

I expect to get my denial letter any day now, I will then request a hearing and hopefully have my last and final day in court. My wait time as of today has been 86 days. LTC for me means a Lawful and Trustworthy Citizen. That's the group of people I want to be associated with, being able to carry is a bonus.

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” – Theodore Roosevelt.

Thank you for sharing your story. It must be very difficult for you post it. I wish there is way to separate violent criminals from someone one made a mistake when young and foolish, especially in nonviolent crimes. Good luck to you.

[SewTexas]

Part of the problem here is States allowing private individuals access to records of arrests, especially for misdemeanors. Especially since these records are (apparently) riddled with incorrect and incomplete information.

Take employment or tenant screening background checks for instance. I have no problem with private entities doing them, but why is the State making information available about crimes that were alleged, but later disproven, dismissed, acquitted, etc. OK maybe if the charges are pending (under indictment) for felonies.

When I see a private employment questionnaire that says "Have you ever been arrested?", my thought is "None of your business." Ask me if I was convicted, or find out yourself. Maybe police actively investigating a crime could use this information, but I suspect that in most actual trials, previous acquittals are suppressed unless there is some compelling reason. For every OJ Simpson there's probably 10,000 Ryan's who got jammed up on bull charges. Or maybe even OJ's really innocent (of murder).

Anyway, since arrests are (usually) matters of public record, a private company could compile them and make them available. But why are (many) states assisting in this process by making the records available to private entities? Especially given the incompleteness and inaccuracy issues.

This and EVERYTHING seems to be an arrestable offense lately. So back to the original topic. If you were to run a background check on someone taking a LTC class, or other training class, what would you be looking for? Someone who is a prohibited person? Only if you're a FFL selling them a gun. Then you run the NICS check. Otherwise let DPS figure it out before they issue a LTC.

and they ask about arrests for so many things that really don't matter.