Your right to have a gun will be suspended if you get a conviction for a felony crime. A misdemeanor conviction which involved domestic violence will take away your right to have a gun.
The process of gun rights restoration in the US is always misunderstood. In State like Washington for example, your civil rights will be restored after the entire sentence conditions are meet and probation ends. Now, for a felony conviction, your civil rights will be restored when a document known as a Certificate of Discharge which is filed with the court. But, this doesn’t restore your right to have a gun or any form of firearm. The right to have a gun is separate and has to be restored by a court.
In the same vein, getting a criminal conviction expunged doesn’t restore the right to have a gun. In fact, if a court removes a criminal conviction the Order states the right to have a firearm isn’t restored.
There’re four steps, that has to be satisfied for your gun rights restoration.
1. To be eligible for gun restore right, you can’t have pending criminal charges against you. It means if you’re presently charged with a crime in a court, a federal, or a court in a state, you are not eligible for a gun rights restoration.
2. The needed period has passed.
Your right to have a gun can be restored if at least five years have passed without you being convicted of a crime. The five years apply if the conviction which suspended your right to have a gun was a class C or class B felony. Now, if you were convicted of wrongdoing that suspended your right to have a gun, three years have to pass before your gun right is restored.
3. You weren’t convicted of a crime which permanently prohibits you from having a gun.
Convictions for some crimes will take your right to have a gun permanently. If for instance, you were convicted of a most serious or class A felony in Washington State, you can’t have your gun rights restored. Also, if you have been convicted of a crime in federal court or another state which would constitute a class A felony (most serious), or that has a sentence of maximum, twenty (20) years or longer, the law doesn’t permit the restoration of your gun rights. Sex crimes are the last category. If you already have a conviction for a crime categorized as a sex crime, then the court won’t restore your right to have a gun or other type of firearm.
4. You have not been involuntarily committed to treatment in a mental health facility.
If you were ever committed to treatment in a mental health facility without having your consent, you’re not eligible for a gun rights restoration.
As we have seen, you can have your right to a gun restoration if you meet the above criteria. In most cases, these four steps and with a credible gun rights restoration lawyer, it will take just a few weeks to complete and get your gun restored.
