How to get your gun rights back: the two questions you have to answer separately

There are two questions, not one, and the answer to each is different. Almost every mistake people make here comes from treating them as a single problem.

Question 1 — the federal bar

Are you prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)? There are nine ways to be, and the Department lists them: felons (g)(1); fugitives (g)(2); unlawful drug users (g)(3); certain mental-health statuses (g)(4); certain aliens (g)(5); dishonorable discharge (g)(6); citizenship renunciants (g)(7); a domestic-violence court order (g)(8); and domestic-violence misdemeanants (g)(9).

If any of those applies, the federal route is an application to the Office of the Pardon Attorney under 18 U.S.C. 925(c). It opens to the public on 4 November 2026, capped at the first 5,000.

Question 2 — your state's bar

Separate law, separate decision-maker, separate paperwork. Your state may bar you when federal law does not, or the reverse. Relief on one side does not automatically give you the other.

The Department is explicit about the direction people most often assume: "The FFRR application process does not automatically restore state or tribal firearm rights."

And going the other way, on its FAQ: "In criminal cases, state restoration of rights does not remove disabilities imposed by federal conviction. A state restoration of a state conviction also may not remove federal disabilities." Note the "may not" — it is conditional, and the condition is at 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20).

Which order should you do them in?

It depends on your situation, and for one case the rule decides it for you:

• If your prohibition is a mental-health one, the rule effectively sends you to your state's programme first, if it has one — see the 922(g)(4) route.
• In Texas, the state sends you the other way: 37 Tex. Admin. Code § 143.12(a)(2) requires "proof of application under the United States Code, Title 18, Section 925(c)", with "copies of all relevant applications and responses thereto", before the state will consider restoring firearm rights. It asks for proof that a federal application was made and answered, not that relief was granted.
• Otherwise they are independent and can run in parallel.

What to do first, whatever your route

Get your own criminal history from the FBI or your state police, and read what it actually says. Both processes run a records check, and people are frequently wrong about what is on theirs. The Department also explains what to do if it is wrong: obtain the report, identify the errors, and dispute them with the relevant law-enforcement agency.

Then work out the exact date you finished every requirement of your sentence — including any fine, cost or restitution. Almost every waiting period on both sides runs from that date, not from your release.

Run the tier checker → · Find your state's route →

This is a private website, not a government site. The official site is justice.gov/ffrr. Information with sources and check dates — not legal advice, and never a decision about you.