Alan Pacheco will not be going to prison for possessing a gun without an Illinois carry permit, one that he used to protect himself and his girlfriend from an assault almost two years ago.
The 23-year-old, who was arrested after the shooting in the parking lot of a strip mall in Adams County, Illinois, originally faced attempted murder charges in addition to possessing a firearm without a license. The most serious charge was dropped on the first day of Pacheco’s trial, but he was still accused of two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm.
An Adams County judge ruled that Pacheco was acting in self-defense when he shot at two assailants who he had first encountered in a TJ Maxx store, with one of them implying he had a gun was was willing to use it on Pacheco. When Pacheco and his girlfriend left the store and returned to their vehicle, the two suspects approached and began assaulting Pacheco through his car window, leading him to draw his own gun and fire.
At least two shots were fired as the suspects were running away, and prosecutors argued that was proof that Pacheco was no longer acting to defend himself. Pacheco’s attorney countered by arguing that his client had no idea where the suspect’s gun was and whether or not he would return fire, so he still had a reasonable belief that his life was in danger.
Though the judge acquitted Pacheco on the aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm charges, she did find him guilty of aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon at the conclusion of his trial in late April.
On Wednesday, Pacheco was back in court to learn his fate, and I can only imagine his relief when he learned his sentence; 24 months of conditional discharge.
Pacheco will still have a criminal record, unfortunately, but so long as he stays out of trouble for the next two years he’ll be able to stay out of prison. Aggravated possession of an unlawful weapon can be punished by up to three years incarceration for a first offense, so Pacheco is lucky in that regard.
Unfortunately, it’s also a felony in Illinois, which means Pacheco is in for a legal ordeal if he decides he wants to regain his Second Amendment rights.
Once Pacheco’s conditional discharge is over, he’ll have to seek a judicial review to have his rights restored. Individuals convinced of disqualifying misdemeanors and most felonies can go before the FOID Review Board, but forcible felonies and most possessory gun offenses require either a pardon from the governor or a judicial review in order to restore the right to keep and bear arms.
Illinois law requires individuals convicted of “forcible” felonies to wait 20 years after their sentence before they can start the restoration process, but Aggravated Unlawful Possession of a Weapon is not considered a forcible offense, so he should be able to initiate the rights restoration process as soon as his conditional release is over.
Pacheco would never have faced felony charges simply for possessing a firearm if he lived in almost any other state in the Union. Besides the 29 permitless carry states, another five states treat possession of a firearm without a license as a misdemeanor. Illinois, sadly, is one of 14 states (along with the District of Columbia) that make it a felony to possess or carry a gun without a government-issued permission slip.
If Illinois respected the right to keep and bear arms, Pacheco would have walked out a court a free man with his rights intact after the judge acquitted him of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery with a firearm two months ago. I’m happy for Pacheco that he won’t be spending the next few years in a prison cell, but being denied the ability to lawfully possess a firearm going forward is an injustice as far as I’m concerned.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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