First time poster here, first would like to thank the community for such a wealth of info.
My back story… Born and raised in Neb. moved to NE PA in 2007 and then to Western MD back in 2013. With work, family and life being so busy I never made time to apply for an HQL, and admittedly I think its overkill so I put it off. Fast forward to this March with the pandemic and ample amount of time on my hands, I finally decided to cave in and take the class, fingerprints, application etc. 30 days passes and I start getting curious why my status is stuck in pending? After several voicemails and emails, I get a response that my HQL was denied via email which they said was sent 16 or so days after I applied. I never received the email and requested for it to be resent, it stated “you are prohibited by Federal or State law from possessing or purchasing a regulated firearm pursuant to Sections 5-117.1 and 5-133 of the Public Safety Article, Annotated Code of Maryland.”
So, I call the Sgt. assigned to my case and he explains that I had a charge back in 2003 that disqualified me. The charge was spitting or expectorate upon another person which is a class 3 misdemeanor punishable by up to 3 months or a $500 fine, or both; I was given a $50 fine. * Before I carry on let me say this, yes this is disgusting and I made a mistake. I was early 20’s in a heated argument with someone I care about, I was struck first and acted out of frustration instead of hitting back. Never the less this is no excuse and I take full responsibility for my actions. * I ask the Sgt. how I can remediate this and he suggests I try to get it expunged from my record.
Now, in July I file the petition paperwork with the court in Nebraska to have my conviction set aside. Nebraska only grants expungements if you were wrongly accused of a crime, they use the set aside as a way of nullifying a conviction. The set aside, from a legal perspective, is from my understanding the same thing. With the difference being that an expungement seals your record so it cannot be seen. I am by no means a lawyer or student of law but that’s what I take away from reading multiple credible sources. The good news is I went to court and spoke to the judge, pled my case and was granted a set aside order for this case.
I send this paperwork over to the Sgt. via email and request that he consider this as being enough to satisfy being qualified for an HQL. He happened to be on vacation so when he returned, I left him a voicemail and he calls me back today. His response was that a set aside was not the same as expungement because he can still see it on the history, clearly marked with the set aside motion. I tried to explain to him about a set aside being essentially the same as expungement and how I think we are dealing with an interpretation issue, nothing gives. He says I can appeal but I’m at a loss and practically defeated at this point. I contacted a lawyer who said he would argue my case but the retainer costs along with the slim to none chance of getting this reversed make most people walk away from it.
As I understand it from my reading here and interpretation of the laws: I cannot legally own or buy a firearm, cannot go to a shooting range or shoot a gun for that matter, am I right? Also, I assume this means long guns, rifles and shotguns as well? All within the great state of Maryland of course!
Sorry for the long post, I'm half processing and venting this frustration out.
My back story… Born and raised in Neb. moved to NE PA in 2007 and then to Western MD back in 2013. With work, family and life being so busy I never made time to apply for an HQL, and admittedly I think its overkill so I put it off. Fast forward to this March with the pandemic and ample amount of time on my hands, I finally decided to cave in and take the class, fingerprints, application etc. 30 days passes and I start getting curious why my status is stuck in pending? After several voicemails and emails, I get a response that my HQL was denied via email which they said was sent 16 or so days after I applied. I never received the email and requested for it to be resent, it stated “you are prohibited by Federal or State law from possessing or purchasing a regulated firearm pursuant to Sections 5-117.1 and 5-133 of the Public Safety Article, Annotated Code of Maryland.”
So, I call the Sgt. assigned to my case and he explains that I had a charge back in 2003 that disqualified me. The charge was spitting or expectorate upon another person which is a class 3 misdemeanor punishable by up to 3 months or a $500 fine, or both; I was given a $50 fine. * Before I carry on let me say this, yes this is disgusting and I made a mistake. I was early 20’s in a heated argument with someone I care about, I was struck first and acted out of frustration instead of hitting back. Never the less this is no excuse and I take full responsibility for my actions. * I ask the Sgt. how I can remediate this and he suggests I try to get it expunged from my record.
Now, in July I file the petition paperwork with the court in Nebraska to have my conviction set aside. Nebraska only grants expungements if you were wrongly accused of a crime, they use the set aside as a way of nullifying a conviction. The set aside, from a legal perspective, is from my understanding the same thing. With the difference being that an expungement seals your record so it cannot be seen. I am by no means a lawyer or student of law but that’s what I take away from reading multiple credible sources. The good news is I went to court and spoke to the judge, pled my case and was granted a set aside order for this case.
I send this paperwork over to the Sgt. via email and request that he consider this as being enough to satisfy being qualified for an HQL. He happened to be on vacation so when he returned, I left him a voicemail and he calls me back today. His response was that a set aside was not the same as expungement because he can still see it on the history, clearly marked with the set aside motion. I tried to explain to him about a set aside being essentially the same as expungement and how I think we are dealing with an interpretation issue, nothing gives. He says I can appeal but I’m at a loss and practically defeated at this point. I contacted a lawyer who said he would argue my case but the retainer costs along with the slim to none chance of getting this reversed make most people walk away from it.
As I understand it from my reading here and interpretation of the laws: I cannot legally own or buy a firearm, cannot go to a shooting range or shoot a gun for that matter, am I right? Also, I assume this means long guns, rifles and shotguns as well? All within the great state of Maryland of course!
Sorry for the long post, I'm half processing and venting this frustration out.
However, it was not classified as domestic, just a simple ticket. One could deduce this if they read the case file but it wasn't classified as domestic assault. 
