Posted on 12/26/2007 6:21:34 AM PST by The Pack Knight
HIGH POINT - As a boy, Gary Don Holt would roam the woods with his father and uncles, hunting for rabbits.
It's been more than two decades since he had the chance. Arrested for marijuana possession in Onslow County in 1986, Holt is a convicted felon and must stay away from guns. When his father dies, he'll have to ask his sister to hold on to a family heirloom he has been promised: a shotgun passed from father to son for generations.
Holt's felony at the age of 21 has robbed him of much over the years: jobs, jury duty, promotions. Of all he's missed, not being able to hunt is one of the biggest sacrifices. Holt's father is getting old, and he'd like to shoot at critters in the woods with him once more.
Holt, a supervisor at a furniture warehouse in High Point, turned to Gov. Mike Easley to make that happen. Twice, he's asked Easley for a pardon. Twice, Easley has turned him down.
"It was like a sledgehammer hitting me," Holt said. "I've turned out so good. I thought there was no way he could turn me down."
Easley has heard pleas like Holt's before. Each year, a dozen or so would-be hunters beg Easley for pardons. Though a pardon wouldn't clean their records, it would give back certain privileges such as the ability to possess a firearm.
Among the recent requests: A Duplin County Boy Scout leader who sold marijuana in college wants the chance to hunt with his teenage son. A Dunn man who said he accidentally shot his girlfriend to death wants to hunt with his children. A 68-year-old homebuilder in Alamance County accused of taking indecent liberties with a girl wants to hunt one last time.
Easley has the power to forgive each one but is frugal with his pardons. Since he took office in 2001, he has pardoned five people, each one a man who had received prison time for crimes that another man committed. Former Gov. James Hunt, by contrast, handed out more than 200 pardons from 1992 to 2000.
Easley has never tipped his hand on his philosophy on pardons or explained why he won't grant them to people like Holt. A spokesman said last week that the governor considers each application on its own merits.
Despite the odds against being pardoned, felons still flood the executive office with requests. Some swear they didn't do the crime in the first place. Others complain they can't get the jobs they want. Others need it for self-respect. Some, like Holt, want credit for the good they've done in life since their crime.
"I feel like I'm still doing time for the crime, for 21 years," Holt said. "Don't you get to be done at some point?"
When police arrested him in 1986, Holt said he was immature and smoked pot recreationally. He would give it away to friends. Holt said one of the friends informed on him to get a break on a pending criminal charge.
Holt agreed to plead guilty and was put on probation. He said he had no idea the implications of a felony conviction.
"I thought it was a slap on the wrist," Holt said. "I was just grateful I wasn't going to prison."
Since then, Holt has put himself through community college and has become a certified emergency medical technician. He teaches martial arts to police officers for free and coaches his 9-year-old daughter's basketball team. His sisters, a colleague, friends and even his ex-wife wrote letters to the governor vouching for his good character.
"I feel I'm more than responsible to have a gun," he said.
Without a pardon, hunting is too big a risk. Federal law prohibits felons from owning, using or even handling any type of gun.
Holt's pardon request has evolved into a time-consuming campaign. He's traveled to Raleigh to try to meet with legislators about it. He has written more than 100 letters, lobbying officials to lean on the governor to grant a pardon. Holt calls the governor's clemency administrator so often she knows him by name. When he reads in the newspaper that Easley is coming to his area, Holt considers going to try to get his attention.
"If I had just five minutes with him, I could change his mind," Holt said. "He's a hunter. I know he knows what it's like."
Holt's second denial came this summer. Now, he must wait another three years to ask again, according to the governor's rules.
By then, Easley will be gone. A new governor will be in his place.
Holt's launching his campaign with the next governor already. He has written to each of the five candidates for governor, asking for mercy from whoever makes it to the Blount Street mansion.
drug laws are stupid.....we need to end the war on drugs, or re-think the way it is fought.....
I think the “Felons can’t vote” thing comes primarily from democrats who want them voting while in prison. I believe Maine is the only state that allows incarcerated people to vote.
The thing is, active felons don’t sit around pining away for a right to vote. Allowing current inmates to vote is a bad idea because they’ll vote just for a change of pace and they’ll vote for whoever makes the best promise.
And, I'd say, that nothing is stopping this guy from going hunting with whoever he wants....he just can't carry a gun.
Some of my best memories are sitting in a deer stand, or walking up a few woodcock with my uncle, just chewing the fat. More often than not, we didn't see a thing, but had a great time. And, what's more important, he passed on all of the family stories, knowledge, etc, to a very interested teenage boy.
They have been convicted.
Look at their rap sheets.
Federal law (18 USC § 922) does precisely that. As marktwain noted, the law has been declared unconstitutional where it exceeds Congress’s authority under Article I of the Constitution. I know of no successful 2nd Amendment challenge, however.
Of a felony. Not necessarily a violent one. Federal law makes no distinction between the two, however, and denial for life of their right to keep and bear arms was never a part of their sentence.
My father in law is a felon and a gun owner. Of course he’s with his wife on private land when they hunt.
Agreed that was a bad example to bring up.
However the one who was busted for pot possession and then has made good for 21 years is a different story (IMHO).
The bigger picture is that with governor’s right to grant clemency comes the responsibility to consider it.
Huck used it too much and has been attacked.
Mitt NEVER issued a pardon presumably because he didn’want a Willy Horton possibility.
This Gov. only pardoned people who didn’t need it.
After what has been done to Huck over the issue, you can expect fewer and fewer pardons to be given by anyone interested in higher office.
By the way, even a misdemeanor DUI will keep you out of Canada for life.
He’s only issued 5 pardons his entire term. I posted this less because of the pardon issue and more to highlight what I think is an absurd situation created by laws which automatically deny anyone convicted of any felony the right to keep and bear arms for the rest of his life, even after he has served out his sentence.
Of course, no one else votes this way.
I agree.
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