Character reference gun rights: three people, and the form they receive
By Desk Technologies, Inc. · Published · Updated · 9 minute read
Character reference gun rights, on the Department's character-reference page, means three people who are not related to the applicant by blood or marriage, have known the applicant at least three years, and are not currently prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). The page says those people receive an email with a link and a PIN to a form they affirm under penalty of perjury, and that the applicant is not emailed if a reference never submits it. Agreeing to be asked is not a decision on the application.
Not a law firm; not legal advice. This article describes public sources. It is not advice about any person's case, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Character reference gun rights: who can be asked
Character reference gun rights questions usually start with a neighbor, a supervisor, or a friend who is willing to help. The Department's character-reference page, updated August 17, 2026, is more specific than willingness. The application requires three character references. For each one the applicant provides a first and last name, an email address, and how the applicant knows the person. Every reference must meet all three of these: not related to the applicant by blood or marriage; has known the applicant for at least three years; and is not currently prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Listed references may be contacted for further information.
A spouse, a parent, a sibling, or an in-law fails the relationship rule even when that person knows the history best. A coworker met 18 months ago fails the three-year rule. A person who is themselves prohibited under section 922(g) fails the third rule. This article does not investigate anyone. It repeats the criteria so the ask goes to someone who can fit them. Whether a particular person is prohibited is something the applicant may not know. That is a question to take to a lawyer before the name is typed into the portal, not a question this page will answer from a job title.
Ask before you submit the name
The page recommends that applicants confirm the people they have in mind are willing and able to provide the required information when the email arrives, before those names go on the application. That conversation is the practical heart of this errand. The email will not be a surprise if the conversation happened. It will be a surprise if it did not, and a surprised reference is how a form sits unfinished.
Tell the person, in ordinary words, what the page says will happen. Some references receive an email from Criminal Justice Information Services stating that an applicant has asked for their support. The email provides a link and a PIN. The link opens a federal warning page where the PIN is entered. After the PIN, the person can fill out the Character Reference form or decline. The affirmation is under penalty of perjury. A person who does not want to affirm those topics can decline. The page says that if a reference declines, the applicant can update the references on the application status page.
The page is equally clear about silence. Applicants are responsible for checking the status page. They will not receive an email notifying them if a reference failed to submit the completed form. A folder of willing friends does not help if nobody opens the status page. Put a reminder on the calendar to look. The Department has not published a number of days a reference is given. This article will not invent one.
What the reference is asked to affirm
The page lists the topics the reference affirms, to the reference's knowledge. They are the Department's topics. They are not a script this website wrote, and they are not facts this website knows about any applicant.
| Topic on the Department's page | The reference affirms |
|---|---|
| Crime in the past five years | No crime other than traffic or other minor infractions, or petty offenses not involving force or violence to persons or property |
| Controlled substances | Does not unlawfully use and is not addicted, with the page's own parenthetical |
| Alcohol and intoxicants | Does not regularly abuse alcohol or other intoxicants, including prescription drugs |
| Mental health | Is not currently suffering from a mental health condition that would impair judgment or behavior |
| Character | Good character and a good reputation, such as honesty, dependability, and community contribution |
| Violence and suicide | Has not attempted or threatened unlawful violence, and has not threatened or attempted suicide, in the past five years, whether or not authorities were told |
| Danger | Would not pose a danger to self, family, intimate partners, or public safety if permitted to possess a firearm |
The controlled-substance line needs a careful reading. The page says the reference affirms that the applicant does not unlawfully use and is not addicted to a controlled substance, and its parenthetical points at 27 CFR 478.11 except that it excludes a person whose only unlawful use of or addiction to a controlled substance consists of marijuana. That parenthetical is about the scope of the affirmation on the character-reference page. It is not a statement that marijuana use is lawful. It is not a statement that 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) does or does not apply to the applicant. Section 107.10(g)(13) describes the affidavit in the regulation, including a controlled-substance topic defined in the rule. If the form and the regulation do not use the same words, the person filling the form follows the form, and a lawyer is the one who explains the difference. This article will not resolve it.
A letter that says only that the person is kind, employed, and sorry does not cover this table. The reference is affirming specific negatives and one statement about danger. Someone who does not know the past five years well enough to affirm them should not be asked to pretend. The perjury line is on the page for the reference, not as a threat from this website. It is a reason to choose people who actually know the applicant.
The regulation and the web page
Section 107.10(g)(13) is the rule's reference requirement: three affidavits, from people who are not relatives by blood or marriage, who have known the applicant at least three years, and who are not currently prohibited under section 922(g). The affidavit covers conduct and reputation in the terms the subsection lists. The character-reference web page describes how the portal collects that information, through an emailed form rather than through a letter the applicant files. The preparation article quotes the regulation's list and stays on the whole packet. This article stays on the three people and the form they receive.
Both should be read before names are submitted. This website does not log into the portal and does not see whether a reference clicked decline. The status page, which the Department says the applicant must check, is the place that fact appears.
Documents and dates to keep
Keep the three names, the email address used for each, the date each person agreed to be asked, and the date the names were submitted. Keep a note of each time the status page was checked and what it showed. If a person declines, keep the date and the name of the replacement, and confirm the replacement against the same three rules before the update. Do not keep a draft letter and assume it was filed. The page's process is the form.
Also keep a copy of what you told the reference the form would cover, so the conversation matches the table. A reference who is surprised by the danger question, or by the five-year question, is a reference who may decline. Surprise is avoidable. Coaching a person to affirm something the person does not know is not. The affirmation is theirs, under penalty of perjury.
Timelines that are published, and the one that is not
The Department has published the three-year acquaintance minimum and the five-year lookback inside the affirmation. It has not published a number of days for the reference to finish the form. It has published that the applicant gets no email when the form is missing. The 30-day clock to finish an e-application, described on the questions page, is a reason to have the three people lined up before the application starts. It is not a statement that the reference's form must be done before the QR code for fingerprints. Read the current portal screens on the day of filing. This article will not invent an order the pages do not state.
A finished set of three forms is still not a grant. The Attorney General decides the application under the statutory standard. References are one part of the record and reputation the statute names. They are not the decision. The 925(c) article is the standard and the presumptions. The myths article is the short version of the idea that a complete file is a granted file.
What to ask an attorney
Ask whether each of the three people fits the relationship rule, the three-year rule, and the prohibition rule, and what the applicant is expected to know about the third one. Ask whether anything in the past five years is something a reference would have to affirm and cannot. Ask how a difference between section 107.10(g)(13) and the emailed form should be handled if one appears on the screen. Bring the names and how long each person has known the applicant. Do not bring only a stack of friendly letters.
A lawyer can also say whether a reference who is an employer, a pastor, or a neighbor creates any separate problem in that record. This article treats them as the same three criteria. It does not rank occupations.
My Gun Rights Back is the public name of Rights Restore, software from Desk Technologies, Inc.. It can help an applicant keep track of who was asked, who agreed, and who still has to be checked on a status page. It does not write the reference's affirmation, it does not file the form with the Department, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No outcome is guaranteed. The beta page explains that limit. The lawyer article describes the split between a tool and counsel.
Questions
Who is allowed to be one of the three references?
The Department's character-reference page says each reference is not related to the applicant by blood or marriage, has known the applicant for at least three years, and is not currently prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g). The applicant provides a first and last name, an email address, and how the applicant knows the person. A relative who wants to help does not meet the relationship rule on that page.
Does a letter written ahead of time replace the form?
The character-reference page describes an email from Criminal Justice Information Services with a link and a PIN. The reference opens a form and can fill it out or decline. The page does not describe a letter the applicant drafted in advance as the document the reference submits. If the form and 28 CFR 107.10(g)(13) read differently on a particular point, follow the form the Department sends and ask a lawyer about the difference.
What if a reference declines or never finishes?
The page says the applicant can update the character references on the application status page if a reference declines. It also says the applicant will not receive an email when a reference fails to submit the form, and that the applicant is responsible for checking the status page. Confirming that a person is willing, before the name is submitted, is the step the page recommends.