Case Title: Farnsworth v. Commonwealth

Citation: 

Docket Number: 042158

State: virginia

Court: Virginia Supreme Court

Date: 2005-06-09T00:00:00Z

Document:
Present:  All the Justices 
SAMUEL L. FARNSWORTH 
v.  Record No. 042158 
 
 
 
PER CURIAM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   June 9, 2005 
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA 
 
FROM THE COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA 
 
In this appeal, we review a judgment of the Court of 
Appeals of Virginia affirming a circuit court judgment 
convicting Samuel L. Farnsworth of knowingly and 
intentionally possessing a firearm after being convicted of 
a felony in the Commonwealth or in any other state, in 
violation of Code § 18.2-308.2.  Farnsworth v. 
Commonwealth, 43 Va. App. 490, 599 S.E.2d 482 (2004).  
Farnsworth had been previously convicted of a felony, armed 
robbery, in West Virginia in 1979.  Upon completing his 
sentence in 1985, he received a document from the West 
Virginia Department of Corrections stating, “Any and all 
civil rights heretofore forfeited are restored.  DONE this 
the 18th day of April, 1985.”  The issue on appeal is 
whether Farnsworth’s possession of a firearm in Virginia 
violated Code § 18.2-308.2 even though the state of West 
Virginia had restored his civil rights. 
 
The Court of Appeals held that Code § 18.2-308.2 is 
“plain and unambiguous and clearly manifests the 
legislature’s intent to prohibit those who have been 
convicted of a felony under the law of, inter alia, any 
state in the United States, including West Virginia, from 
possessing a firearm in Virginia.”  Id. at 497, 599 S.E.2d 
at 486.  The provisions of Code § 18.2-308.2 set forth two 
exemptions that allow a convicted felon to lawfully possess 
a firearm in Virginia.  The first exemption applies to 
“ ‘any’ felon who has had his ‘political disabilities’ 
removed by the Governor ‘pursuant to Article V, Section 12 
of the Virginia Constitution.’ ”  Id. at 498, 599 S.E.2d at 
486; Code § 18.2-308.2(B)(iii).  The second exemption 
allows “ ‘any’ felon whose ‘civil rights have been restored 
by the Governor or other appropriate authority’ ” to 
petition the circuit court of the jurisdiction where the 
felon resides for a permit to possess a firearm.  
Farnsworth, 43 Va. App. at 498, 599 S.E.2d at 486; Code 
§ 18.2-308.2(C).  The Court of Appeals found that 
“Farnsworth did not obtain relief under either of these 
statutory exemptions.”  Farnsworth, 43 Va. App. at 498, 599 
S.E.2d at 486. 
For the reasons set forth in the opinion of the Court 
of Appeals, we will affirm that court’s judgment. 
Affirmed.