“Can a Felon Own a Gun” Has No Single Answer — Here Is What Decides It

Whether a felon can own a gun turns on four separate legal tests, and clearing three of them still leaves a federal crime on the table.

Updated August 27, 2026

Can a felon own a gun? Most people treat that as a yes-or-no question, and as an FFL I get asked it at the counter more than you would think. It is not yes-or-no. The answer turns on four separate legal tests, and a person can clear three of them and still commit a federal crime by picking up a rifle.

The four tests are the federal statute, the definition of the underlying conviction, state law, and whether any form of relief has been granted. They run in that order, and each one can end the inquiry on its own.

Federal Law

As a default, no. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), it is unlawful for any person “who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” to ship, transport, possess, or receive a firearm or ammunition.

Read that phrase closely, because it does not say what most people assume. The trigger is the sentence the offense could have carried, not the sentence a judge handed down. Probation, time served, or a suspended sentence changes nothing. A conviction carrying a maximum of 366 days qualifies. A conviction carrying a maximum of 12 months does not.

The prohibition also reaches ammunition, not just firearms. And it reaches possession, which courts read to include constructive possession: a firearm in a shared closet, a spouse’s rifle in an unlocked cabinet, a handgun in the glovebox of a car being driven.

What Counts as a Felony

Now, what if the conviction never counted in the first place? Congress carved out two categories in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20). Neither is wide.

• Business-regulation offenses. Federal or state offenses “pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices” do not count, regardless of the maximum sentence.
• Two-year state misdemeanors. Any state offense classified by that state as a misdemeanor and punishable by two years or less does not count, even though its maximum exceeds one year.

That second carve-out is why a state’s own labeling matters. A “high misdemeanor” punishable by 18 months is outside § 922(g)(1). The same conduct charged as a felony punishable by 18 months is inside it.

Everything else counts, including offenses that involved no violence, no weapon, and no victim. Bryan Range lost his firearm rights for life over a 1995 guilty plea to making a false statement to obtain food stamps. The Third Circuit held sitting en banc in Range v. Attorney General that applying § 922(g)(1) to him violated the Second Amendment. Other circuits have gone the other way. As of publication the Supreme Court has not resolved the split, which means the answer to this question changes depending on which federal courthouse you happen to be standing in front of.

When the State Restores Rights

Sometimes that fixes it. Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling. Every state layers its own prohibition on top, and the layers rarely line up.

Some states restore firearm rights automatically once a sentence and any supervision end. Some restore them by petition to a court. Some restore civil rights (voting, jury service, office) while expressly withholding the right to possess a firearm. And a handful never restore firearm rights for certain offenses at all.

That last pattern matters more than it looks, because of one clause buried in § 921(a)(20): a conviction that has been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or had civil rights restored does not count as a conviction under federal law unless the restoring instrument “expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.”

Basically, a state can hand back everything except the gun, and federal law will honor the exception. The Supreme Court read that clause strictly in Caron v. United States: a partial restoration that keeps any firearm restriction leaves the federal disability in place.

The Four Tests

Restoration, Expungement, and a Set-Aside Are Not the Same Thing

These three words get tossed around interchangeably in conversation and mean different things on paper, and the difference decides whether the federal bar survives.

An expungement destroys or seals the record of conviction. A set-aside or vacatur undoes the judgment while the record survives. A restoration of civil rights leaves the conviction standing and returns specific privileges. Federal law treats all three as potentially curative under § 921(a)(20), subject to the unless clause above, but state procedures differ so sharply that the label on the order tells you very little. The operative language does, so read the order, not the headline on it.

One more trap: state relief cannot cure a federal conviction. The Supreme Court settled that in Beecham v. United States. A person convicted in federal court needs federal relief, full stop.

After a Federal Restoration Grant

Yes, within limits, and for the first time in a generation there is a working path to one.

The Justice Department published a final rule on August 20, 2026, that revives 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) and creates 28 CFR Part 107. The rule takes effect September 21, 2026. It moves the program out of ATF and into the Office of the Pardon Attorney, sets a $30 fee, and requires an application file that runs to 14 categories of documents. See our full breakdown of what the new federal gun rights restoration rule requires for the eligibility screens and the phased rollout dates.

A grant lifts the federal disability. It does not touch a state prohibition. Section 107.30(a) says relief “shall not extend to disabilities imposed by State law if the applicant is independently subject to any such State-law prohibition.” It is also not a license, and it does not survive a new disqualifying conviction.

Antique Firearms

Federal law does not treat every gun as a firearm. Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3) and § 921(a)(16), an antique firearm, generally one manufactured in or before 1898, or a replica using matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar ignition, falls outside the statutory definition, so § 922(g)(1) does not reach it.

Treat that as a narrow technical point, not a plan. Many states define “firearm” more broadly than Congress did and prohibit muzzleloaders in the hands of a prohibited person. Ammunition for a modern cartridge gun is still off limits under federal law regardless.

What to Do Before You Touch a Firearm

1. Pull the certified judgment for every conviction and read the statutory maximum, not the sentence imposed.
2. Check how the state of conviction classified the offense (felony, high misdemeanor, or misdemeanor) and what its cap is.
3. Request the state’s restoration or civil-rights certificate and read whether it withholds firearm rights in express terms.
4. If the conviction is federal, or if any state instrument withholds firearm rights, treat the federal prohibition as live and pursue § 925(c) relief.
5. Ask a lawyer licensed in the state of conviction whether you can own a gun on these specific facts, before touching one. A wrong answer here is a 10-year federal felony, and no dealer worth his license will help you guess.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can a felon own a gun if the sentence was probation only? No. The statute cares about the maximum the offense could have carried, not what the judge actually handed down, so a conviction punishable by more than one year triggers the ban even if you never spent a night in a cell. The only sentence-based escape hatch is the state-misdemeanor carve-out capped at two years.

Q. Does an expungement automatically restore gun rights? Not automatically, and this is where people get burned. Under § 921(a)(20) an expunged, set-aside, or pardoned conviction drops out for federal purposes unless the order itself “expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms.” Some states seal the record and withhold the gun in the very same document, so read every line.

Q. Can a felon own a gun that belongs to a spouse? Not safely, and this is the one that catches good people. Federal courts treat constructive possession as possession, so a firearm the prohibited person knows about and can reach (a shared closet, an unlocked cabinet, the truck he drives) can support a § 922(g)(1) charge. Households in this spot use a locked container the prohibited person cannot open.

Q. Do state gun rights restorations fix a federal conviction? No. Beecham v. United States settled that relief for a federal conviction has to come from federal authority. A state expungement, pardon, or restoration does nothing to a federal judgment; the fix is a § 925(c) application under the Justice Department’s new rule.

Q. What is the penalty for felon in possession? Up to 10 years in federal prison for a § 922(g)(1) violation, and a much longer mandatory term under the Armed Career Criminal Act for anyone with three qualifying priors. Prosecutors stack it on top of other counts all the time, which is why this question deserves a lawyer and not a forum post.

The statute has not changed since 1968, but the map around it has. Can a felon own a gun? A question that used to end at “no” now runs through four tests, a live circuit split, and, as of September 21, an application form that had been unavailable since the year Terminator 2 left theaters.

Sources: 18 U.S.C. §§ 921, 922, 925; DOJ final rule 91 FR 54054 (Aug. 20, 2026), Federal Register; NRA-ILA. This article is reporting, not legal advice. Related reading on Freedom’s Lodge: constitutional carry state by state and carry reciprocity. Across the BAM network: Guns & Gadgets Daily on serialization rules, Popular Suppressors on the Texas NFA ruling, and Popular EDC on traveling with a carry gun.

James Nicholas

NFA Firearms Manufacturer · Professional Gunsmith for over 20 years · Firearms Writer, Photographer and Firearms Expert. The XDMAN has a talent for taking complex firearms subject matter and breaking it down into an easy-to-understand format that all experience levels can relate to.

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