Background check question

[JimFromTN]

I don't know if this is the best place to ask this but here goes.  A friend of mine got a misdemeanor 20 years ago for drinking beer on 4th of July on a lake that did not allow alcohol.  I think they got her for public intoxication and maybe disorderly conduct.  She went into walmart 20 years later to buy a deer rifle for her 13 yr old son and was denied because of this misdemeanor that she got 20 years ago.  This seems a bit extreme and wrong.  I thought the purpose was to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.   There is a form online to appeal it.  If she fills out the form and sends it in what are her chances for an appeal?  She has had no other run ins with the law before or since.  Is there a better way?

[DaveTN]

This has been discussed here many times. My experience was not the charge, but the fact that there was no disposition. It was a 25 year old misdemeanor that was dismissed. Never stopped me from purchasing until I moved to Tennessee. I had to go through the Circuit Clerks Office where the charge occurred. They submitted the dismissal to the Feds and I haven’t had a problem since. But they sent me notarized copies of the documents in case it happened again.

The TBI was no help; the BATF told me what the problem was and how to fix it.

Edited November 1, 2018 by DaveTN