A retired Army veteran in Texas was prevented from buying a gun after a computerized background check turned up a misdemeanor marijuana conviction from 1971. Ron Kelly retired from the Army in 1993 after 20 years of service. He says he forgot about his high school pot bust for which he spent one night in jail and served a year of probation and did not realize that it had cost him his Second Amendment rights.

“I am ashamed of the way my government has treated me,” Kelly said. ”The government may have the greatest of intentions with the [law], but they messed it up.”

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According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, “the law states that a person can be prevented from owing a gun if they are convicted of a misdemeanor in which they could spend more than two years behind bars.”

Kelly often used a firearm while he was in the service, The Blaze reported.

"I went on to serve 20 years," Kelly said. "I had a top-secret clearance. It is amazing that they won't let me buy a gun for a misdemeanor 42 years ago."

He has reached out to U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul and Sen. John Cornyn to assist him in resolving the issue. Officials in North Carolina, where the arrest took place, were unable to find a record of the conviction because it happened so long ago.

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"I am not going to give up," Kelly said. "I want to have a gun."

Sources: The Blaze, Stars and Stripes

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