Frequently asked questions
Questions That the Justice Impacted Have.
These are general answers. Eligibility can change when the conviction, state, sentence or later history changes.
Sometimes. Federal law recognizes several routes that may affect a firearm disability, and the Department of Justice now has a renewed 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) process for individualized federal relief. State restrictions can still apply independently.
The Justice Department finalized a new federal firearm-rights restoration rule in August 2026 and announced a staged application rollout through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Relief is discretionary, not automatic.
No. Section 925(c) relief addresses applicable federal firearm disabilities; it does not erase the underlying conviction and does not automatically remove separate state firearm restrictions.
No. States use different terms and procedures, including expungement, sealing, set-aside, dismissal, certificate relief and pardon. Eligibility depends on the jurisdiction and the conviction history.
Not necessarily. Record relief and firearm-rights restoration are related but separate legal questions. The effect depends on the exact order entered, federal law and the law of the relevant state.
A case number, court, conviction statute, sentence-completion date, probation or supervised-release status, state of residence and a copy of the disposition are useful starting points.
Your facts may change the answer.
Send the conviction and sentence basics for a more useful case-intake review.