In the nine or so years he's had it, Delmar Polite had never fired his .357 revolver before Monday.
A pack of jackals changed that for him, however, when they decided it'd be a good idea to smash in his front door at 2:30 a.m. and attempt to make off with his stuff.
"I was in the bed asleep," he said. "I was scared."
Frightened or not, Polite did what a lot of us would do. He grabbed his pistol and went downstairs to defend himself and his home. He got off a couple of rounds — Polite didn't hit a blessed thing — but managed to ward off the home invaders.
Polite called police and, when they showed up, they confiscated his gun — standard practice, nothing out of the ordinary — until they finished their investigation. Thanks to a 13-year-old misdemeanor conviction, Polite might not get his gun back at all.
Prior convictions
As records go, the one Polite accrued as a younger man isn't pristine, but it's not that bad, either.
Aiding and abetting larceny, misdemeanor (1988); misdemeanor worthless check (1991); and misdemeanor assault on a female (1998).
Three misdemeanors, three guilty pleas. Far worse people walk the streets every day.
It's the last one, the domestic-violence charge, that's hanging him up now. Under federal law, anyone convicted of anything related to domestic violence — felony or misdemeanor — isn't supposed to have a gun. Ever.
The reasoning behind the law is sound. Cutting down on the number of guns in households where violence has been shown will certainly cut down on the number of killings.
But the law — and life — is rarely filled with absolutes. There are always exceptions.
In Polite's case, he said he got into an argument with a girlfriend that escalated into pushing and shoving. Police came; an arrest was made. Again, standard practice.
He went to court May 1, 1998, represented himself and learned that if he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor, he'd pull no jail time and leave with a $100 fine and $80 in court costs.
"I don't remember hearing anything about any federal gun law," he said.
Second chances?
When contacted about this case — I called him, he didn't call me — Polite brought up the domestic-violence conviction himself with no prompting. He didn't make excuses and took full responsibility for his actions.
After police took Polite's gun — which was bought legally, Polite said — it didn't take long for them to find his record. When Polite asked about getting his pistol back later in the week, he was basically told it would be up to a judge to decide.
Getting into a physical altercation with a spouse or girlfriend is never OK. Still, it begs the question: When is a man's debt to society considered paid in full?
"That follows you for the rest of your life," Polite said.
There seems to be precedent for returning the gun. In pages of fancy language, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled in August 2009 that "the State divested Plaintiff of his right to own a firearm" and overturned a lower court in deciding that a Raleigh man who had a 20-year-old felony drug conviction should have his Second Amendment rights restored.
Whether Polite should get his gun back isn't an easy question. At a minimum, he shouldn't be charged with having it. Perhaps the best prism to look through belongs to Delmar Polite and the terror he suffered Monday.
"I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have that gun," he said.
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