(720) 863-7755Being charged with a weapons offense in Colorado is a serious offense, and therefore you need serious representation. Each criminal case is unique, and you deserve a defense specifically tailored to your case. Peter Loyd Weber & Associates has experience representing clients charged with a weapons offense. Whether you need to go to trial to defend your innocence, or you need to plea bargain your way down for a better consequence, we here at Peter Loyd Weber & Associates can help you in this endeavor.
Second Amendment
Under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, the rights of people to “bear arms” are protected. However, this is not an absolute. The right to “bear arms” does not exist in every single persons’ case. In Colorado, the right most likely does not exist if the person is a felon, or if the person has a domestic violence charges against them or on their criminal history. Further, even though a person may have a right to bear arms, if the person does have a weapon while committing another crime, for example, like burglary, their sentence will be “enhanced.”
Weapons Offenses v. An Aggravating Factor
In Colorado, carrying a weapon while committing another crime is an “aggravating” factor. This means that if you are convicted of the crime charged, your sentenced could be increased, or have a minimum amount of time that is mandatory, merely due to the fact you were carrying a weapon at the time. This means your sentenced could be increased even if you did not use the weapon while committing the other crime.
Typical Legal Issues in Weapons Offense Cases
Because weapons cases usually involve some sort of “search” by the police department, your lawyer should be looking into whether the search violated your constitutional rights. Peter Loyd Weber & Associates has experience dealing with these exact type of issues, and your lawyer should be looking into getting these types of illegal searches thrown out at trial.
Common Weapons Offenses We Defend
Possession of:
dangerous weapon, illegal weapon, defaced firearm, firearm by a previous offender
Menacing
Defacing a Firearm
Unlawfully Carrying a Concealed Weapon
Illegal Discharge of a Firearm
General Information About Common Weapon Offenses
Possession of a Dangerous or Illegal Weapon:
A person who knowingly possesses a dangerous or an illegal weapon commits a very serious offense. They may be found guilty of committing a class 4 or 5 felony or a class 1 misdemeanor. The Colorado Revised Statutes defines “dangerous weapon” as a “firearm silencer, machine gun, short shotgun, short rifle, or ballistic knife.” An illegal weapon is “a blackjack, gas gun, metallic knuckles, gravity knife, or switchblade knife.”
Possession of a Defaced Firearm:
The possession of a defaced firearm is a class 1 misdemeanor. A person can be found guilty of possession of a defaced firearm if they unlawfully possess a firearm that distinguishing features (example: serial number) have been removed or altered in any way other than normal wear and tear.
Defacing a Firearm:
Defacing a firearm is a very serious offense that carries the penalty of a class 1 misdemeanor. A firearm is defaced if a person “knowingly removes, defaces, covers, alters, or destroys the manufacturer’s serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark of a firearm.”
Unlawfully carrying a concealed weapon:
A person commits a class 2 misdemeanor if they knowingly and unlawfully carry a knife or firearm concealed on or about his or her person. They may also be found guilty if they “without legal authority, carry or have in such person’s possession a firearm or any explosive, incendiary, or other dangerous device on the property of or within any building a general assembly is located.” It shall not be an offense if the person is within his or her property.
Possession of a firearm by a previous offender:
A person commits a class 6 or class 5 felony if they are found guilty of being in possession of a firearm by a previous offender, depending on the circumstances of the individual case. A previous offender cannot knowingly possess, use, or carry a firearm.
