Hello,

A restraining order has it's own registry data base that can be accessed by law enforcement and the courts on a national level so it will appear on police investigations also unless the person involved is a juvenile the information is public record so it can be accessed.

If there is a valid currently in place restraining order then you can not possess the firearm under federal law unless you work in law enforcement or the military and the possession of the firearm is during working hours.

Yes a protection from stalking is a restraining order. Restraining protective order can be issued regardless or admission of guilty when they are either temporary or permanent after a hearing/trial or as in your case by consent/no contest.

The only thing I can think of is that your order lacks the required language that would stop you from possession of a firearm.

Read you order order of protection to see if it contain specific legal language:

•it has to forbid the respondent from harassing, stalking, threatening, or behaving in any way that causes the petitioner to fear physical injury for herself or her child AND
•either state that the abuser represents a threat to the physical safety of the petitioner or her child OR
•specifically prohibit the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the petitioner or her child.**

If your order lacks this language then you can possess the firearm.

You can also read the exact wording of the law [18 USC § 922(g)(8)]

18 U.S.C. 922(g) & (h) Unlawful acts
(g) It shall be unlawful for any person--
(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) who is a fugitive from justice;
(3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
(4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
(5) who, being an alien--
(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
(B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
(6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;
(8) who is subject to a court order that--
(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
(B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and
(C) (i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or
(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

(h) It shall be unlawful for any individual, who to that individual's knowledge and while being employed for any person described in any paragraph of subsection (g) of this section, in the course of such employment--
(1) to receive, possess, or transport any firearm or ammunition in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce; or
(2) to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.