A jury convicted former president and current Republican nominee Donald J. Trump of 34 felonies on Thursday, which will bar him from possessing firearms.
While the convictions are for felonies under New York law, they trigger the federal ban on convicts owning guns. That means authorities will likely require Trump to turn over any firearms in his possession.
“What is commonly referred to as the felon-in-possession ban will apply to Trump because these New York crimes are punishable by more than one year in prison,” Gabriel Malor, a federal appellate lawyer and legal commentator, told The Reload.
Trump’s felony convictions will likely shake up the 2024 election. They will undoubtedly put the gun-rights movement in a weaker state. The candidate championing gun owners is no longer legally allowed to be one.
The law already barred the former president from obtaining new guns because of the numerous federal felony indictments against him, which are still being litigated. The New York convictions turn that prohibition into a total ban on ownership. It’s unclear if Donald Trump currently owns firearms and, if so, how many.
However, he has spent most of his political career courting gun owners. The National Rifle Association, which endorsed him earlier this month, was among the only major organizations to back his successful 2016 bid. He has spoken at every one of their annual meetings since that time.