Gun Rights
States That Restore Gun Rights to Felons: Rules in All 50 States + D.C.
Every state handles firearm rights after a felony differently. Some states restore rights automatically after time passes, some require a court petition, some rely heavily on pardons or clemency, and a few limit the state firearm disability to specific offense categories. Federal law remains a separate layer.
Direct answerThere is no single national rule for restoring gun rights after a felony conviction. The correct path depends on the state of conviction, the offense, sentence completion, later history, present residence, and whether a federal firearm disability remains. The table below summarizes all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
States that restore gun rights after a felony: the major approaches
State restoration systems generally fall into four broad groups: automatic or time-based restoration for qualifying cases, judicial restoration, pardon or executive-clemency restoration, and mixed systems that use more than one route. A state order must also be evaluated for its federal effect under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), and DOJ’s renewed § 925(c) process can be relevant when a federal disability remains.
Important: “Restored under state law” does not always mean “lawful under federal law,” and a federal grant does not automatically erase a separate state prohibition. The actual conviction and actual restoration order control.
50 states + D.C. gun-rights restoration rules
| Jurisdiction | Primary route | What is unique | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Some single nonviolent felony disabilities expire after five years; continuing bars may require an express firearm-rights pardon or other qualifying relief. | Effective October 1, 2025, Alabama bars firearm possession after any felony conviction within the previous five years and after three or more separate felony convictions at any time, while also maintaining continuing bars for violent, drug-trafficking, and domestic-violence categories. | Cost guide → |
| Alaska | Time-based restoration may apply to some nonviolent convictions; pardon review matters for more serious cases. | Alaska imposes a firearm disability on felony offenders, with a ten-year restriction for many nonviolent felonies and more durable restrictions for violent felonies. A pardon can provide relief in cases that do not restore automatically. | Cost guide → |
| Arizona | Court restoration or qualifying court relief; dangerous offenses are treated more strictly. | Arizona felony convictions can suspend firearm rights. Depending on the offense, rights may be restored by court process after discharge; dangerous offenses face substantially longer restrictions, and a pardon can also matter. | Cost guide → |
| Arkansas | Pardon or qualifying court relief may restore state firearm rights, depending on the offense and order. | Arkansas generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. State relief may come through a pardon or a qualifying court relief that has the legal effect required by Arkansas and federal law. | Cost guide → |
| California | Pardon or qualifying California felony reduction; 2025 law also recognizes specified out-of-state vacatur, dismissal, expungement, or full pardon for qualifying nonviolent felonies. | California generally bars firearm possession after a felony conviction and certain listed misdemeanors. In addition to California pardon and qualifying felony-reduction routes, a 2025 amendment now recognizes some out-of-state relief for nonviolent felonies when the convicting state restored firearm rights. | Cost guide → |
| Colorado | Pardon remains central for many listed convictions; a 2025 law created a ten-year judicial-relief route for the new motor-vehicle-theft category. | Colorado firearm dispossession is tied to specified violent, sexual, and other listed offenses rather than every felony. In 2025, motor-vehicle theft was added as a prohibiting category, with a specific petition route after ten years from sentence completion. | Cost guide → |
| Connecticut | Pardon-based relief is a central route; the permitting consequences must also be reviewed. | Connecticut restricts firearm possession and permitting after felony convictions and certain serious juvenile offenses. A pardon can erase qualifying convictions and may materially change the firearm-rights analysis. | Cost guide → |
| Delaware | Pardon-based restoration is the primary path for felony-based firearm disabilities. | Delaware bars firearm possession for felony convictions and several other listed offense categories. A pardon is generally required to restore firearm rights lost because of a felony. | Cost guide → |
| District of Columbia | The route depends on the offense category; pardon is especially important for permanent restrictions. | D.C. law imposes firearm disabilities for specified violent, sex, weapons, drug, and threat-related offenses. Some disabilities are time-limited, while more serious categories generally require pardon-based relief. | Cost guide → |
| Florida | Executive clemency/pardon is the principal route for Florida felony firearm restoration. | Florida generally bars firearm possession by people with felony convictions. State firearm authority is commonly restored through executive clemency or a pardon that includes firearm authority, subject to eligibility rules and waiting periods. | Cost guide → |
| Georgia | Pardon or first-offender-specific relief, depending on the conviction and disposition. | Georgia generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. A pardon can restore firearm rights, and certain first-offender dispositions have separate rules that require careful review. | Cost guide → |
| Hawaii | Pardon-based restoration. | Hawaii restricts firearm possession after felony convictions and certain drug or violent offenses. A gubernatorial pardon is the traditional route for restoring rights lost because of those convictions. | Cost guide → |
| Idaho | Automatic restoration for some cases; pardon review for listed violent offenses. | Idaho restores many civil rights after sentence completion, but specified violent felonies carry continuing firearm restrictions. Pardon relief may be required for those offenses. | Cost guide → |
| Illinois | Administrative, judicial, or pardon-based restoration depending on the case. | Illinois bars firearm possession by felons and some other prohibited persons. Relief may be available through the Illinois State Police, a court restoration process, or pardon, with stricter standards for violent convictions. | Cost guide → |
| Indiana | State police/court restoration after eligibility period or pardon, depending on the offense. | Indiana imposes handgun disabilities for felony convictions and domestic battery. State law provides a restoration process after a substantial waiting period for some convictions, and pardon remains another route. | Cost guide → |
| Iowa | Governor-based restoration or pardon; offense exclusions are critical. | Iowa generally prohibits firearm possession by felons. Restoration may be available through gubernatorial restoration of rights or pardon after the applicable eligibility period, but forcible felonies and firearm offenses face additional limits. | Cost guide → |
| Kansas | Time-based restoration, qualifying court relief, or pardon depending on the conviction category. | Kansas firearm restrictions vary by offense type and time since conviction, with especially serious rules for person felonies and weapon-related drug offenses. Pardon or qualifying court relief can restore rights in many—but not all—situations. | Cost guide → |
| Kentucky | Pardon is central; qualifying court relief may alter the conviction record and must be analyzed separately. | Kentucky generally prohibits firearm possession after felony convictions. A pardon is the primary route to restore firearm rights, even though certain Class D felony qualifying court reliefs can remove the underlying conviction. | Cost guide → |
| Louisiana | Time-based restoration for certain convictions or pardon; concealed-carry eligibility is a separate issue. | Louisiana bars firearm possession after crimes of violence, felony drug offenses, and sex offenses. State disability can end after a long crime-free period in some cases, while pardon remains another route. | Cost guide → |
| Maine | Pardon-based restoration for ordinary firearms. | Maine generally prohibits firearm possession following a felony conviction. A pardon is the principal mechanism for restoring ordinary firearm rights, although black-powder rules are different. | Cost guide → |
| Maryland | Pardon-based relief is central for conviction-based Maryland firearm disabilities. | Maryland restricts firearm possession for felony convictions, crimes of violence, and other disqualifying offenses. A pardon is an important restoration route, but federal disability must be analyzed separately. | Cost guide → |
| Massachusetts | Time-based eligibility for some offenses; pardon for excluded serious categories. | Massachusetts firearm eligibility after conviction depends on offense type and licensing rules. Some long-gun disabilities can end after a waiting period, while violent, drug, and other serious cases may require pardon relief. | Cost guide → |
| Michigan | Time-based restoration for some convictions; additional court conditions or court relief may apply to specified felonies. | Michigan law generally imposes a three-year firearm disability after felony sentence completion and a five-year period for specified felonies, with additional conditions for serious offenses. Pardon or court relief can change the analysis in some cases. | Cost guide → |
| Minnesota | Automatic restoration for some cases; court petition or pardon for crimes of violence and other listed offenses. | Minnesota generally restores firearm rights at discharge for ordinary felony convictions, but crimes of violence and certain drug-related convictions require a court restoration process or pardon. | Cost guide → |
| Mississippi | Judicial restoration or pardon. | Mississippi generally bars firearm possession after a felony conviction. State law allows restoration through pardon or a court petition for qualifying applicants. | Cost guide → |
| Missouri | Pardon or statutory qualifying court relief. | Missouri generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. A pardon or qualifying court relief can restore state firearm rights, depending on the offense and legal effect of the order. | Cost guide → |
| Montana | Court petition or pardon for qualifying weapon-related disabilities. | Montana firearm restrictions are focused on convictions involving dangerous weapons rather than every felony. A pardon or court petition may restore rights for affected people. | Cost guide → |
| Nebraska | Pardon-based restoration. | Nebraska generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. A pardon is the principal route to restore firearm rights lost because of the conviction. | Cost guide → |
| Nevada | Judicial or executive restoration. | Nevada generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. Restoration can occur through the sentencing court, the Board of Pardons Commissioners, or other statutory restoration processes depending on the case. | Cost guide → |
| New Hampshire | Annulment for qualifying offenses or pardon. | New Hampshire restricts firearm possession for certain felonies against persons or property and drug felonies. A judicial annulment can restore rights for qualifying nonviolent convictions; pardon may be required for others. | Cost guide → |
| New Jersey | Pardon or gubernatorial restoration. | New Jersey imposes firearm restrictions for listed violent crimes and handgun disabilities for felony-level and domestic-violence convictions. Pardon or gubernatorial restoration can change state eligibility. | Cost guide → |
| New Mexico | Time-based expiration for many felony disabilities or pardon. | New Mexico generally imposes a ten-year firearm disability after completion of sentence for a felony conviction. A pardon can provide earlier or additional relief. | Cost guide → |
| New York | Certificate of Good Conduct or pardon, depending on the record and licensing issue. | New York restricts firearm possession and licensing after any felony and specified “serious offenses.” A pardon or Certificate of Good Conduct can restore rights in qualifying cases. | Cost guide → |
| North Carolina | Court restoration for qualifying nonviolent cases or pardon. | North Carolina generally bars firearm possession after most felony convictions. A qualifying nonviolent offender may seek judicial restoration after a long waiting period, and pardon remains another route. | Cost guide → |
| North Dakota | Time-based restoration, with earlier court relief available for qualifying nonviolent felonies; violent categories are treated more strictly. | North Dakota generally imposes a ten-year firearm disability after a felony involving violence or intimidation and a five-year disability for many nonviolent felonies. Qualifying nonviolent felony cases may seek earlier judicial restoration under § 62.1-02-01.1. | Cost guide → |
| Ohio | Judicial relief from disability after the statutory conditions are met; a 2026 Ohio Supreme Court decision clarified that a parallel federal disability from the same conviction does not itself block the state petition. | Ohio firearm disability is focused on felony offenses of violence, felony drug offenses, and other listed categories rather than every felony. Eligible people may petition the court of common pleas for relief under R.C. 2923.14. | Cost guide → |
| Oklahoma | Full pardon is a central restoration route for qualifying felony convictions. | Oklahoma felony convictions generally create firearm restrictions, with pardon especially important for restoring rights after nonviolent convictions. Violent offenses are treated more restrictively. | Cost guide → |
| Oregon | Time-based restoration, judicial relief under ORS 166.274, qualifying expungement or set-aside, pardon, or federal § 925(c) relief where Oregon law gives that relief state-law effect. | Oregon generally prohibits firearm possession after felony convictions, but state law provides several restoration routes and expressly recognizes relief granted under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) in specified firearm-transfer and licensing contexts. | Cost guide → |
| Pennsylvania | Court restoration after qualifying vacatur, full pardon, or satisfaction of the detailed § 6105(d) conditions. Because the federal § 925(c) program is now operating again, the statute’s federal-relief condition deserves current case-specific review. | Pennsylvania restricts firearm possession for specified felonies, drug crimes, repeated DUI, domestic violence, and other listed offenses. Section 6105(d) provides several court-relief routes, including vacatur, full pardon, and a route that references prior federal relief from the corresponding disability. | Cost guide → |
| Rhode Island | Pardon or offense-specific statutory restoration. | Rhode Island firearm restrictions are tied particularly to crimes of violence. Pardon is a principal route to full restoration, while specific domestic-violence rules can differ. | Cost guide → |
| South Carolina | Expungement, set-aside, pardon, or restoration of civil rights can remove the conviction from the state firearm-disability definition when the relief does not expressly preserve a firearm restriction. | South Carolina now generally prohibits firearm possession after a conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year, subject to statutory exclusions, and retains separate handgun and domestic-violence restrictions. | Cost guide → |
| South Dakota | Time-based restoration after the statutory period or pardon. | South Dakota imposes firearm restrictions after crimes of violence and certain drug felonies. Rights can return after a long conviction-free period or through pardon. | Cost guide → |
| Tennessee | Expungement, pardon, or qualifying judicial restoration depending on the offense; 2025 amendments narrowed the older certificate route and require careful category-by-category analysis. | Tennessee uses different firearm rules for violent, force/deadly-weapon, drug, and other felony categories, with a separate handgun restriction for felony convictions. Expungement, pardon-based relief, and revised civil-rights procedures can matter, but serious categories remain substantially more restricted. | Cost guide → |
| Texas | Limited home-premises restoration after five years; pardon or other qualifying executive relief for broader state restoration. | Texas generally bars firearm possession after a felony conviction, but after five years from sentence completion state law permits possession only at the premises where the person lives. Broader restoration ordinarily requires pardon or other qualifying relief. | Cost guide → |
| Utah | Qualifying court relief for many eligible convictions; pardon for excluded violent offenses. | Utah generally restricts firearm possession after felony convictions. A qualifying court relief can restore firearm rights for many nonviolent offenses, while violent offenses may require pardon. | Cost guide → |
| Vermont | State conviction alone may not create a Vermont firearm ban; federal § 922(g) must still be resolved independently. | Vermont does not impose a general state firearm disability solely because of a felony conviction, although court orders, probation conditions, federal law, and other state prohibitions may still apply. | Cost guide → |
| Virginia | Civil-rights restoration followed by circuit-court firearm petition, or pardon. | Virginia generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. Once civil rights are restored, an eligible person may petition a circuit court for restoration of firearm rights; pardon is another route. | Cost guide → |
| Washington | Judicial restoration after the required waiting period or pardon. | Washington restricts firearm possession after qualifying felonies and other listed offenses. State courts can restore rights after offense-specific waiting periods and a showing that statutory conditions are met; pardon is another route. | Cost guide → |
| West Virginia | Court restoration for eligible cases; pardon or qualifying court relief for excluded serious categories. | West Virginia generally bars firearm possession by felons and people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence. Court restoration is available for some offenses, while violent, drug, and sexual felonies usually require pardon or qualifying court relief. | Cost guide → |
| Wisconsin | Pardon-based restoration. | Wisconsin generally prohibits firearm possession after a felony conviction. A pardon is the principal way to restore firearm rights lost because of that conviction. | Cost guide → |
| Wyoming | Automatic restoration after five years for qualifying first-time nonviolent Wyoming felonies; other cases generally require gubernatorial pardon or a certificate restoring rights. | Wyoming prohibits firearm possession after violent felonies and, since 2023, after nonviolent felonies as well. A 2025 revision provides automatic restoration for qualifying first-time nonviolent Wyoming felony convictions five years after sentence completion. | Cost guide → |
How much does restoration cost?
There is no reliable one-price answer for every state. Court filing fees vary by jurisdiction, pardon and clemency systems may have little or no application charge but still require certified records and supporting materials, and automatic-restoration states can still require paid record checks to confirm that the person actually qualifies. If federal § 925(c) relief is also needed, DOJ currently lists a separate $30 federal application fee, plus possible fingerprint and record costs.
Four levels of help
Choose the legal help your path actually needs.
Felon Justice service fees are separate from court, agency, fingerprint, record-copy, and other third-party expenses.
Pathway Consultation
$500
Up to 2 hours of attorney consultation to map the state and federal path, answer threshold questions, and identify the next step. The $500 can be credited toward an accepted Premium or Ultimate federal engagement.
Premium Federal Restoration
$2,000
Up to 5 hours of legal consultation/review, document-acquisition help, character-reference guidance, brief narrative suggestions, application review, and routine file follow-up for comparatively straightforward federal matters.
Ultimate Federal Restoration
$5,000
Up to 15 hours of legal work for complex federal matters, crafted narratives, deeper evidentiary development, and presumptive-disqualifier strategy.
State Review Only
Case-by-case
For state-law remedies such as expungement, pardon, set-aside, civil-rights restoration, or firearm-specific relief, including coordination with lawyers in the relevant jurisdiction when appropriate.
What should you verify before relying on restored rights?
- The exact statute and level of the conviction.
- The court and jurisdiction of conviction.
- The date every sentence requirement ended.
- Whether the state remedy restores firearm rights or only other civil rights.
- Whether firearm restrictions are expressly reserved.
- Whether a separate federal prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) remains.
- Whether the person’s current state of residence imposes an additional restriction.
Frequently asked questions
Do all states let felons restore gun rights?
No. States use very different rules, and some convictions may be permanently or effectively disqualifying under state law unless a pardon or extraordinary relief is available.
Which states restore gun rights automatically?
Several states provide automatic or time-based restoration for at least some qualifying convictions, but the waiting period and excluded offenses vary. “Automatic” should never be assumed without checking the exact statute and conviction.
Can a state pardon restore federal gun rights?
Sometimes a pardon or qualifying restoration can change the federal analysis, but federal law looks at the legal effect of the relief and whether firearm restrictions remain. The order and state law must be reviewed together.
Is federal gun-rights restoration separate from state restoration?
Yes. DOJ states that the federal restoration process does not automatically restore state or tribal firearm rights.
Where should I start?
Start with the Gun Rights by State guide for the conviction jurisdiction, then compare the available Felon Justice service levels if you want case-specific legal help.
Sources: State summaries are based on the current Felon Justice state-law dataset and the Collateral Consequences Resource Center national firearm-rights survey. Federal fee and process information should be confirmed against the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Firearm Rights Restoration program before filing.
General information only. This article is not legal advice and is not permission to possess, receive, transport or purchase a firearm. Verify the current law and the legal effect of your actual court orders.
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