Voluntary Surrender of Firearms in Columbia

South Carolina is a gun-friendly state but that does not mean one is immune from facing harsh punishment for a gun offense. Sometimes, if facing charges, your best option is to cooperate with the prosecutors on the case. But before you do that, contact an accomplished lawyer who has the experience with a voluntary surrender of firearms in Columbia. Call today to make sure your gun rights are protected through the surrender process.

Authorities Seizing a Firearm

Depending on the nature of the charge, the authorities are always going to seize the firearm. Whether the person is able to get it back depends on the type of charge and on a lot of different other factors because the police and prosecutors could choose to file what is called a forfeiture action to take ownership of the gun. This could be an expensive gun that a person has bought legally and was not used to break the law. The defense attorney needs to make sure to file a motion to preserve the evidence so nothing happens to that weapon.

Mitigating Criminal Charges Through Voluntary Surrender

Cooperation goes a long way with a lot of prosecutors. If a person is willing to voluntarily surrender their firearm in Columbia and the prosecutor does not have to go through the court process to take it, then that can carry some weight moving forward. In the prosecutor’s eyes, they see the person as reasonable and willing to help versus fighting certain things, and that can give the person benefits on their plea offer or other things related to the case. It varies from case-to-case, but it could ultimately be a significant benefit through cooperation.

Legally Disposing of a Firearm

There is no specific location other than the sheriff’s departments for legally disposing of a firearm. A person should contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and go through the procedures to protect their rights. The best thing to do is call an attorney to make those phone calls for them so that they will not put themselves in any legal bind with the police over the firearm disposal. The attorney can deal with SLED or the local Sheriff’s Department and make sure this is accomplished while providing a shield between the person and law enforcement.

Voluntary Surrender of Ammunition

Ammunition is treated differently than the firearm itself. The police and prosecutors can do a forfeiture action on any type of property and the defendant can fight them over their ownership. As far as ammunition is concerned, if a person is a felon (has a prior felony conviction), then they are not even allowed to be in possession of ammunition. The authorities can take the ammunition as evidence and ultimately try to have it destroyed at the conclusion of the case.

Contact an Attorney Today

The attorney needs to have all the information, facts, and circumstances before giving any advice to the defendant. After an attorney receives information about the rest from the defendant, then they can help the offender by making a recommendation as to how to proceed with a voluntary surrender of a firearm in Columbia.