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Former Felon With Restored Gun Rights Saved Trooper In Arizona Ambush

BlackBook

BlackBook

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Former Felon With Restored Gun Rights Saved Trooper In Arizona Ambush
Posted at 12:54 am on January 25, 2017 by Bob Owens

Thomas-Yoxall-.jpg

  • "The man who shot and killed an assault suspect on a dark highway in Arizona, rescuing a state trooper, said on Wednesday that he doesn’t think of himself as a hero.
  • The Good Samaritan had requested media anonymity since the early-morning January 12 incident on Interstate 10.
  • Today, he made his first appearance since the incident at a news conference at the headquarters of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
  • He identified himself as Thomas Yoxall, 43, a maintenance supervisor with a passion for photography and reading.
  • And he mentioned that he has a “past.”
  • As court records show, that past includes a 2000 conviction for felony theft.
  • Fortunately for DPS Trooper Edward Andersson, whose life hung on the edge before Yoxall showed up on January 12, Yoxall had his gun rights restored in 2003 after he successfully completed probation.
  • Yoxall has paid back his debt to society — big-time."

Felon =/= violent, and violent =/= felon. Non-violent felons should all have their voting and gun rights restored upon completing probation.
 
BlackBook said:
Former Felon With Restored Gun Rights Saved Trooper In Arizona Ambush
Posted at 12:54 am on January 25, 2017 by Bob Owens

View attachment 67214055

  • "The man who shot and killed an assault suspect on a dark highway in Arizona, rescuing a state trooper, said on Wednesday that he doesn’t think of himself as a hero.
  • The Good Samaritan had requested media anonymity since the early-morning January 12 incident on Interstate 10.
  • Today, he made his first appearance since the incident at a news conference at the headquarters of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
  • He identified himself as Thomas Yoxall, 43, a maintenance supervisor with a passion for photography and reading.
  • And he mentioned that he has a “past.”
  • As court records show, that past includes a 2000 conviction for felony theft.
  • Fortunately for DPS Trooper Edward Andersson, whose life hung on the edge before Yoxall showed up on January 12, Yoxall had his gun rights restored in 2003 after he successfully completed probation.
  • Yoxall has paid back his debt to society — big-time."

Felon =/= violent, and violent =/= felon. Non-violent felons should all have their voting and gun rights restored upon completing probation.
Click to expand...
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
 
^^

Ah, it was reduced to a misdemeanor after he completed probation.
 
I think once someone has served their time for a crime they should have all their rights restored and given the opportunity to became an upstanding citizen.

BUT!!!!

I think part of serving your time or paying for your crime should include rehabilitation and a mental evaluation that determines you have hopefully learned from your mistake and are no longer a threat to society. I know there is no fool proof method to determine this but I think we should be spending more time rehabilitating than punishing. The idea of serving 6 months and letting someone back out who is clearly a threat to society needs to be addressed. This sword should cut both ways. Full reinstatement for those that have learned from their mistake as well as keeping people longer who clearly are evaluated to be a danger to society.

No amount of jail or punishment seems to detour the alcoholic because we haven't addressed the problem. A person robbing homes to support a drug habit will not be cured by punishment.

I have worked with both of these people and the hell most are already living is every bit as bad as being incarcerated. You cannot cure years of addiction in 30 days. But the more and longer we work towards rehabilitation the better we will become at actually succeeding.

The big problem is rehabilitation does not solve the vengeance issue of the victims of these crimes. The same people I know that are appalled by someone mocking a physically handicapped person think jail is the answer to millions of mentally handicapped people. We are that sick.
 
Chomsky said:
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
Click to expand...

It's a federal law but states can get around it by getting rid of felony convictions after a certain period of time or by request. The ATF has a system to restore gun rights but they don't have the funding for it because Chuck Schumer has blocked it.
 
Chomsky said:
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
Click to expand...

Yes, felons can have their Rights restored. I don't know what it is for most states but in Washington you have to go through 3 steps to get them restored. First you have to get your record expunged. Which doesn't actually get rid of your record. The record will just state that you were charged with a crime but it will no longer state what the verdict of that crime was. Second you have to have your records sealed so that even if an employer checks to see if you have a record they will not see anything. After that you can finally have your Rights restored. Each step/process costs roughly $1500-$2500 in lawyer and court fees. And you have no guarantee that the judge who handles your case will expunge, seal or restore your Rights so its really a crap shoot.
 
Chomsky said:
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
Click to expand...

They can, but can be in expensive process. It should be automatically restored when their time has been served.
 
Chomsky said:
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is state by state. In Texas, a felon (really no such thing as an ex-felon) cannot have a firearm for 5 years after there sentence is completed. After that, they can own a gun and have it at their house but it's another felony offense if they're ever caught carrying one on them. Also, I don't know about other states but probation is often not considered a final conviction and judges here really have way too much discretion (if you ask me), to set aside probated sentences. A prison trip is the one thing that is a permanent felony conviction.

Now, aren't you glad you asked?
 
X Factor said:
Yes, it is state by state. In Texas, a felon (really no such thing as an ex-felon) cannot have a firearm for 5 years after there sentence is completed. After that, they can own a gun and have it at their house but it's another felony offense if they're ever caught carrying one on them. Also, I don't know about other states but probation is often not considered a final conviction and judges here really have way too much discretion (if you ask me), to set aside probated sentences. A prison trip is the one thing that is a permanent felony conviction.

Now, aren't you glad you asked?
Click to expand...

But technically, the Fed's could still go after the man for having the weapon in his house.

Convicted Felons Possessing Firearms in Texas

The USA need unified laws.
 
Chomsky said:
I wasn't aware felons can have their gun rights reinstated.

Is this a state by state thing?
Click to expand...
There are three ways currently under the GCA of '68 rules that a felon can have his second amendment rights reinstated, that would be pardon, full clemency with restoration of voting rights, and there is a form to apply with the ATF as well. There is a huge drawback to the ATF form path to restoration, the ATF claims insufficient manpower to process and therefore does not sign off on many of those, I think during it's existence it has processed less than 5K of them.
 
PIPEWRENCH said:
I think once someone has served their time for a crime they should have all their rights restored and given the opportunity to became an upstanding citizen.

BUT!!!!

I think part of serving your time or paying for your crime should include rehabilitation and a mental evaluation that determines you have hopefully learned from your mistake and are no longer a threat to society. I know there is no fool proof method to determine this but I think we should be spending more time rehabilitating than punishing. The idea of serving 6 months and letting someone back out who is clearly a threat to society needs to be addressed. This sword should cut both ways. Full reinstatement for those that have learned from their mistake as well as keeping people longer who clearly are evaluated to be a danger to society.

No amount of jail or punishment seems to detour the alcoholic because we haven't addressed the problem. A person robbing homes to support a drug habit will not be cured by punishment.

I have worked with both of these people and the hell most are already living is every bit as bad as being incarcerated. You cannot cure years of addiction in 30 days. But the more and longer we work towards rehabilitation the better we will become at actually succeeding.

The big problem is rehabilitation does not solve the vengeance issue of the victims of these crimes. The same people I know that are appalled by someone mocking a physically handicapped person think jail is the answer to millions of mentally handicapped people. We are that sick.
Click to expand...

The point of a sentence is punishment for the crime. That must include every aspect. Evaluation prior to sentence or on release by qualified people is due process but a blanket law is not. It really is as simple as that. The constitution does not promise expedience for government.
 
I wanted to thank everyone that responded to me above, but I didn't want to quote 5 members and draw them all back into the thread!

Thanks, gentlemen! :cheers:

So I did a little research into this very interesting subject from a legal point of view, and found that some states will restore one's gun rights.

But then if one was carrying outside their state, wouldn't they technically be afoul of the federal possession statutes? Or even within their own state, in federal terms?

Apparently the Constitutional rights are restored, at least in terms of gun rights, but the felony remains. So the state issues it's local gun card, but the guy would still seem to be a felon in the feds eyes, no?
 
Chomsky said:
I wanted to thank everyone that responded to me above, but I didn't want to quote 5 members and draw them all back into the thread!

Thanks, gentlemen! :cheers:

So I did a little research into this very interesting subject from a legal point of view, and found that some states will restore one's gun rights.

But then if one was carrying outside their state, wouldn't they technically be afoul of the federal possession statutes? Or even within their own state, in federal terms?

Apparently the Constitutional rights are restored, at least in terms of gun rights, but the felony remains. So the state issues it's local gun card, but the guy would still seem to be a felon in the feds eyes, no?
Click to expand...

To be honest I am not sure how it works. I am sure if you are rich and have political connections felonies can magically disappear from your record legally or by accident.

I know people that have had many DUI and are still driving and going to bars. Thanks to political connection, prosperity, and good lawyers these people will continue to endanger society legally. On the other hand a poor black man with no political connection, or wealth, and a public defendant is lucky he doesn't get charged with felony on his 2nd or 3rd DUI. While the poor get charged and convicted of felonies the rich and powerful plead it down to misdemeanors or a slap on the wrist if they don't get it squashed altogether. The only justice in our justice system is the spelling of the word.
 
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