A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by a Casper man against the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives because he did not face any threat of prosecution for wanting his gun rights restored.

Christopher Kegler offered only hypothetical arguments that federal agents would prosecute him if he wanted to own a gun after he had a misdemeanor domestic violence crime deleted from county court records, according to U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson's order on Tuesday.

Kegler's lawsuit, filed in February, deals with issues similar to one filed by Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank in May.

Both lawsuits wanted declarations about whether the federal government or the state has the final authority to restore gun rights to those guilty of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses.

In 1996, Congress approved and President Clinton signed into law amendments to the Gun Control Act of 1968, which included an amendment by New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg that prohibited anyone convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to have a firearm.

A new Wyoming law, passed in 2004, set up a process for letting people convicted of misdemeanor offenses - including, but not specifically, domestic violence acts - regain their gun rights. Wyoming, however, used a different definition of "expunge," which resulted in numerous disagreements between the state and the BATF.

In July 2005, the BATF said it would notify federally licensed firearms dealers that concealed weapons permits from Wyoming were invalid unless the state changed its law.

Neither Kegler nor his attorney Tom Sedar could be reached for comment.

Kegler's case

In September 2001, Kegler pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor under the Domestic Violence Protection Act.

In December 2004, Kegler petitioned circuit court to expunge his record based on the new Wyoming Statute 7-13-1501.

But in January 2005, the state asked the court to dismiss the petition, based on an Aug. 6, 2004, letter from the BATF Special Agent Lester Martz of the Phoenix Field Division. The letter stated the agency would not recognize the new law and would prosecute Kegler if he possessed a firearm.

That letter, also key to the state's lawsuit against the BATF, centers on the meaning of "expunge."

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

The federal government is much more strict, he wrote, citing 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 June 2005, Circuit Court Judge Michael Huber expunged Kegler's record, noting that he had met all the demands of the Wyoming law, including waiting one year after completing his sentence, having not lost his firearm rights because of any other crime, and receiving no objections from the victim.

But the federal dispute still remained about 7-13-1501 and "expunge," so Kegler sued the BATF saying he risked the threat of arrest, prosecution and incarceration if he obtained a gun.

The BATF responded that Kegler did not claim to be under investigation or that he was violating the law, and "… plaintiff must be able to show a real and immediate threat of prosecution that is more than speculative."

The Bureau also objected that the Wyoming law does not expunge Kegler's conviction for the purposes of the federal Gun Control Act.

In his order, Johnson agreed that in some cases the court can grant relief in a present situation if there is a future threat.

But that is not happening in this case, Johnson wrote. "Mr. Kegler's putative injury is neither real nor imminent, but rather, wholly conjectural and hypothetical."

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