Restraining Orders

In general, if there is a valid restraining order in place, the respondent cannot legally have a gun under federal law (you can read more about federal gun laws here: http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?statelaw_name=Federal%20Gun…). Sometimes, if someone files an appeal, the current order will continue to be in effect while the appeal is pending. In other situations, when a person is filing an appeal, s/he may be able to ask for a “stay” of the original order pending an appeal – a “stay” basically would mean that the current order would be suspended, in a sense, until the appeals court decides whether it should continue or not. I don’t know what factors the court may consider in your state when deciding if the original order should be allowed to stand or if it will be “stayed” – hopefully a lawyer can advise you. Here is a link with lawyers, free and paid: LINK and here is general info on filing appeals: http://www.womenslaw.org/simple.php?sitemap_id=37

I am sorry that I won’t be able to give you a specific answer to your question as to whether or not the appellant in your situation will still have to give up his/her gun while appealing a restraining order but I hope this helps point you in the right direction. Feel free to write back at any time.