Vietnam Veteran Lost Gun Ownership Rights Based On A Teenage Misdemeanor

Vietnam veteran Jeff Schrader lost his right to own a gun based on a teenage misdemeanor. Schrader had owned and traded guns during the past five decades and was honorably discharged from the Navy. The Georgia native has been fighting for his Second Amendment rights since the old misdemeanor charge popped up on the federal government’s radar in 2008.

When the 64-year-old Vietnam veteran was just a 19-year-old sailor station at Annapolis her and some buddies were allegedly attacked by a street gang. A few weeks after the incident, Jeff Schrader saw one of the alleged attackers walking down the street and told his pal to stop the car and let him out.

The certified firearms expert stated he walked over to the man and told him he was taking him to the police station. The street gang member supposedly stood up and offered to give the sailors “some more.” The dispute turned physical and Schrader punched the alleged gang member. Two police officers just happened to be stopped at a traffic light and arrested the sailor, The Blaze reports.

Schrader was told he could pay a fine or spend 30 days in a jail cell – he took the fine. Not long after paying the fine, Schrader was deployed to Vietnam for 21 months. The veteran’s record remained clean, excerpt for a traffic violation, for the rest of his life.

Jeff Schrader has this to say about losing his Second Amendment rights:

“It’s a depressing thing. A depressing thing to have the government treat you like that. It’s not, well, its not a good thing. I was just surprised it happened at all. The ATF agent said I wasn’t allowed to have any guns. But he said I could keep my black powder rifle.”

Judge David Tatel had this to say in his opinion about on the gun ownership matter during Schrader’s most recent appeal:

“Due to a conviction some forty years ago for common-law misdemeanor assault and battery for which he served no jail time, plaintiff Jefferson Wayne Schrader, now a 64-year-old veteran, is by virtue of 18USC 922(g)(1), barred for life from ever possessing a firearm.”

Judge Tatel also noted that Second Amendment rights are not unlimited. The judge referenced a “longstanding prohibition” of gun ownership by felons. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was cited in Jeff Schrader’s case. President Lyndon Johnson signed the order into law to make it difficult for “questionable characters” to be involved in firearms interstate commerce.

Do you think that the Vietnam veteran should lose his right to own a gun based on a misdemeanor fight as a teenager?

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[Featured Image Via: Shutterstock.com]

[Secondary Image Via: Jeff Schrader family/The Blaze]