Gun rights restoration: what it means

What gun rights restoration does not do

Gun rights restoration does not, by itself, delete a conviction, lift a state ban, and grant a federal application. A search for how to restore firearm rights belongs on the document guide, not here. Those are separate acts. The comparison below is the map. The articles linked from it are where each path is explained.

Can a felon own a gun?

It depends on the conviction, on whether a later order meets 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20), and on whether a separate state ban still applies. A federal felony and a state felony are not cleaned up by the same official. This overview does not sort any person's record. The document list for a federal application is in how to restore gun rights.

What papers to pull first

1. The judgment of conviction, from the clerk of the court that entered it. For a federal case, that is the district court. For a state case, it is the convicting court. Names and fees differ, so ask that clerk what a certified copy costs.
2. Any later pardon, expungement, set-aside, or restoration order, including the words about firearms.
3. A list of every conviction, not only the one someone remembers. The Department's required-documents page asks for state criminal records covering the last 25 years or since age 18, whichever is shorter.

What to ask an attorney

Ask which conviction creates a federal firearms disability, whether any later order expressly restricts firearms, and whether a state ban would remain even if a federal grant were issued. Those are questions about one record. This article does not answer them.

People use the phrase "gun rights restoration" for several different legal acts. They are not interchangeable. A governor's pardon, a court's order sealing a record, a statute that gives back the right to vote when a sentence ends, and an application to the Attorney General under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) can each change something. They do not each change the same thing. This article is an overview of those ideas. It is not the law of any state, and it is not advice about any person's record.

A federal firearms disability is a legal status

Federal law, in 18 U.S.C. 922(g), lists categories of people who may not ship, transport, possess, or receive a firearm or ammunition in or affecting commerce. The list includes, among other categories, a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, a person who is a fugitive from justice, a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, a person adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, a person subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders, and a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. The statute is the source of those categories. Whether a particular record falls inside one of them is a separate question, and this article does not answer it for any person.

The phrase "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" is defined further in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20). That definition excludes certain offenses relating to the regulation of business practices, and it excludes a state offense classified as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of two years or less. It also says that a conviction which has been expunged or set aside, or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored, is not a conviction for this purpose, unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms. What counts as a conviction is determined under the law of the jurisdiction where the proceedings were held. Those sentences are the statute's words, not a prediction of how a court will apply them to a record.

Five names that are often mixed together

A pardon is an act of the executive. For a federal offense, the Pardon Clause in Article II of the Constitution gives the President power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States. A state pardon is an act under that state's law, usually by a governor or a board. The article on pardons describes how a pardon can interact with a firearms disability, including the Department of Justice's own explanation of a full federal pardon.

Expungement, set-aside, and sealing are court or statutory processes that change how a record is treated. States use those words differently. Federal law uses "expunged" and "set aside" in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) and, for misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33). Sealing a record under a state procedure is not automatically the same thing as an expungement that meets the federal definition. The article on expungement, set-aside, and sealing stays with the federal text and does not invent a state's rule.

Restoration of civil rights is a third idea. In Logan v. United States, 552 U.S. 23 (2007), the Supreme Court discussed 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) and noted that courts have treated the relevant civil rights as the rights to vote, to hold office, and to serve on a jury. The Court held that "restored" means rights that were taken away and later given back. A person who never lost those rights has not had them restored. Some states return some of those rights automatically when a sentence ends. Some require a petition. This site does not say which path any state uses. The article on automatic and application-based restoration explains the federal cases that draw that line.

Relief from disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) is an application to the Attorney General. The statute says the Attorney General may grant relief if it is established to the Attorney General's satisfaction that the circumstances regarding the disability, and the applicant's record and reputation, are such that the applicant will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest. That standard is discretionary. A complete application is not a grant. The article on section 925(c) covers the statute's history, the funding restriction that began in 1992, and the Department of Justice rule published in 2026.

What a federal grant does and does not do

The Department of Justice's rule at 28 CFR 107.30 says that a person granted relief is relieved of the federal disability or disabilities imposed by the Gun Control Act for which relief is sought, with respect to the acquisition, receipt, transfer, shipment, transportation, or possession of firearms or ammunition. The same section says that relief shall not extend to disabilities imposed by state law if the applicant is independently subject to any such state-law prohibition. A person who becomes subject to a later disability after a grant is not relieved of that later disability and must apply again.

Section 925(c) also says that whenever the Attorney General grants relief, notice of the action shall be published promptly in the Federal Register, together with the reasons. The Department's public questions page repeats that publication duty. Publication of a grant is not a statement that every similar application will be granted.

The rule at 28 CFR 107.80 says that relief is void from the start if the applicant willfully subscribed as true any material matter the applicant did not believe to be true, or willfully omitted any material requested information. A grant that is later found to rest on that kind of statement does not remain a grant.

Who decides

For a federal 925(c) application, the decision belongs to the Attorney General. The 2026 rule places the process with the Department of Justice. The Department's questions page says applications go through the Office of the Pardon Attorney, and that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives no longer administers the program. A court still has the role the statute gives it when an application is denied. The statute says a person whose application is denied may file a petition in the United States district court for the district where the person resides for judicial review of that denial. United States v. Bean, 537 U.S. 71 (2002), held that inaction is not a denial. That case is discussed in the 925(c) article.

For a pardon, the decision belongs to the executive who has the power: the President for federal offenses, or the official or board a state names for state offenses. For an expungement or set-aside, the decision belongs to the court or agency the relevant statute names. None of those decision-makers is this website.

What this software does with those ideas

Rights Restore is software from Desk Technologies, Inc. It helps a person organize papers that a restoration packet often needs: an account of what happened, records requests, fingerprint steps, and reference letters. The person files the packet. The software does not submit anything to the Department of Justice or any other government agency, and it does not decide whether relief should be granted. A free beta is described on the beta page. The beta is access to the software in exchange for feedback. It is not a promise that any right will be restored.

How to read the rest of this series

The articles linked above go further into the history of the federal prohibitions, the Lautenberg Amendment, the leading court cases, common mistakes, the role of a lawyer, and a dated timeline. Each one cites the statute, case, or government page it relies on. If a point could not be checked against a primary source, it is not in the article. State-by-state rules are not stated here unless a government page states them, and even then the article says where the statement comes from.