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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Gun-Permit Denial Upheld |for Pardoned Former Convict

(CN) - A Missouri man who was convicted of burglary 56 years ago is not entitled to a concealed carry permit, a state appeals court ruled.

Wayne Stallsworth pleaded guilty to a felony charge of burglary in 1960. After violating probation, he spent two years in confinement.

In 2004, Stallsworth received a full pardon from Gov. Bob Holden and obtained a concealed carry permit in Buchanan County one year later.

Stallsworth renewed the permit in 2008 and 2011 before moving to Jackson County in 2014.

However, the sheriff denied Stallsworth 's permit renewal, citing his criminal history.

The trial court denied Stallsworth's appeal, and the Western District Missouri Court of Appeals came to the same conclusion.

Stallsworth argued that his pardon from the governor cleared the way for his concealed carry permit.

Judge Cynthia Martin disagreed, citing the statute's disqualification of an applicant who "has . . . pled guilty to or entered a plea of nolo contendere or been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year under the laws of any state or of the United States."

Therefore, the judge stated, Stallsworth lost his right to a permit.

"While Stallsworth received a gubernatorial pardon in 2004, the effect of the pardon was to obliterate the fact of his conviction. Stallsworth's guilt - evidenced by his guilty plea - remained," she wrote. "As a result, because the guilty plea is a separate disqualifier that is not obliterated by the pardon, (the law) bars Stallsworth from receiving a concealed carry permit."

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