A UNC School of Government Blog
Last week, the court of appeals decided State v. Watterson, __ N.C. App. __ (2009). The defendant was charged with, and convicted of, two counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction in violation of G.S. 14-288.8. The charges were based on the defendant’s possession of two shotguns, each of which had been sawed … Read more
The Supreme Court (Washington, not Raleigh) has had a bit of a slow February so far, whether because of Justice Ginsburg’s well-publicized health problems or for some other reason. Still, it’s done a couple things of interest to criminal lawyers. First, it adopted a broad interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), which prohibits people who have … Read more
North Carolina law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms. See G.S. 14-415.1. I’ve had several recurrent questions about this offense, so here’s an FAQ about FIP (felon in possession): 1. Doesn’t North Carolina allow felons to possess long guns? Not anymore. North Carolina’s FIP law used to have lots of exceptions, including exceptions for long … Read more