West Warwick man prohibited from possessing firearms charged with lying on firearm purchase application

Published on Friday, July 21, 2023

An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a West Warwick man has been charged in Kent County Superior Court with providing false information in order to purchase a firearm following his attempt to buy a gun from a licensed firearms dealer in West Warwick in February.

On July 7, 2023, the Office of the Attorney General charged Nicholas Muschiano (age 43), by way of criminal information, with one count of providing false information while attempting to secure a firearm.

As alleged in the complaint, on February 25, 2023, the defendant attempted to purchase a firearm from Heritage Gun and Coin in West Warwick and was subsequently denied after a National Instant Background Check System (NICS) check returned results flagging that the defendant is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

As alleged, investigators found that the defendant entered a nolo contendere plea on July 18, 2022, to one misdemeanor count of violating a domestic violence-family court protective order and received a one-year filing, and a domestic No Contact Order that expired on July 18, 2023. Further, the defendant also has an active family court restraining order against him, with an expiration date of March 14, 2025.

Under federal law, certain individuals are restricted from possessing a firearm. Individuals subject to a court order restraining them from harassing, stalking, or threatening their child, intimate partner, or child of such partner are prohibited from possessing a gun or ammunition. This law informs one of the questions on the federal gun purchase application.

As further alleged, on his federal application, the defendant allegedly lied by denying that he was currently under such a court order.

The defendant is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on August 22, 2023, in Kent County Superior Court.

###