The U.S. District Attorney's Office in Cheyenne is reviewing a lawsuit filed Monday against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives by the state of Wyoming.

"We need to evaluate what the case is and what we're going to do with it," said spokesman John Powell.

The lawsuit essentially centers on who has the authority to restore gun rights to people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses. But a bigger issue could be the BATF's threat to deem Wyoming-issued concealed weapon permits invalid at federally licensed firearms dealers.

The dispute arose after the 2004 Wyoming Legislature unanimously passed in both houses Senate File 64 introduced by Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, and signed into law by Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

The law allows people guilty of misdemeanors to petition the convicting court to expunge the records of their convictions to restore any lost firearms rights.

It does not specifically mention misdemeanors about domestic violence.

But that's where the state and federal government part ways.

Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank's complaint outlines the federal requirements for Federal Firearms License dealers performing National Instant Criminal Searches before a gun sale or transfer.

Dealers may skip the NICS check if the purchasers possess concealed weapon permits.

Until the mid-1980s, these federal requirements prohibited anyone who had "been convicted in any court of any misdemeanor crime of domestic violence" from possessing firearms or obtaining a concealed weapon permit, known in legal terms as a CCW.

The 1986 Firearms Owners' Protection Act changed that, allowing states to determine who is eligible to possess firearms and whose convictions could be expunged.

The meaning of 'expunge'

But the BATF's Phoenix Field Division Special Agent Lester Martz wrote to Crank in August 2004, stating that Wyoming's new law was not valid by federal standards.

The dispute hinged on the meaning of "expunge," Martz wrote.

Wyoming's definition means the record will be maintained at the state Division of Criminal Investigation and not be available for general observation, he wrote, citing state law.

The federal government is much more strict, Martz wrote.

He cited a 1991 decision of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: "The word 'expunge' generally means the physical destruction of information."

In July 2005, the BATF wrote Crank and told him that it would notify federally licensed firearms dealers in Wyoming that they could not accept Wyoming CCW permits in lieu of a criminal background check unless the attorney general refrained from issuing the permits to those misdemeanor domestic violence criminals whose firearms rights were restored.

In August 2005, Crank responded to the BATF, writing the federal definition of "expunge" is used for determining criminal history for federal sentencing and that is "wildly different" from whether a conviction has been "expunged" in terms of restoring firearms rights for those convicted of misdemeanors.

In the complaint, he and Senior Assistant Attorney General C. Levi Martin wrote that the Wyoming definition of "expunge" in the new law strengthens the state's stance against domestic violence, because those records will be available to law enforcement and will not allow a person to avoid enhanced penalties in future convictions, according to the complaint.

In later correspondence, the BATF stated that the federal government takes its standards and compares them to state standards, and that federal courts have upheld this reasoning in civil rights cases.

The BATF gave a May 15 deadline for compliance, Crank and Martin wrote.

"Instead, the BATF placed an ultimatum on the Wyoming Attorney General: either capitulate to the BATF's illegal interpretations or the BATF will take actions against Wyoming citizens which would deprive them of their due process rights."

So Wyoming sued.

Besides the disputes about the meaning of "expunge" and the Carrying Concealed Weapon permits, Wyoming wants the court to declare the BATF violated the 10th Amendment's mandate that reserves to the states all powers not delegated to the federal government.

"The BATF's conclusion that it, instead of the Wyoming Attorney General, gets to decide 'that possession of a firearm by [certain CCW applicants] would be in violation of law' injures Wyoming's sovereignty and its legitimate state interest in the continued enforceability of its own statutes," according to the complaint.

Reporter Tom Morton can be reached at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@casperstartribune.net.