Who is barred under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), and the five presumptive-disqualifier lists in the Department's own words

A presumptive disqualifier is not a bar. The Department's own explanation: "Anyone who is federally prohibited from handling firearms under 18 U.S.C. 922(g) can apply for FFRR relief. However, applicants with certain prior convictions or in certain statuses will be denied, unless they can show the extraordinary circumstances of their case overcome that presumption."

The rule's operative sentence, repeated in every tier, is: "Applications will therefore be denied, absent extraordinary circumstances, if the applicant:". Those three words do a great deal of work and no honest summary drops them.

First: who is barred at all — 18 U.S.C. 922(g)

Federal law bars nine groups from possessing "any firearm or ammunition". In the statute's own order, a person:

1. "who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year";
2. "who is a fugitive from justice";
3. "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance";
4. "who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution";
5. who is in the United States illegally or unlawfully, or (with exceptions in subsection (y)(2)) was admitted on a nonimmigrant visa;
6. "who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions";
7. "who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship";
8. who is subject to a qualifying domestic-violence protective order (922(g)(8));
9. "who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence".

The presumptive disqualifiers below do not add to this list. They decide who the Department will not grant relief to, absent extraordinary circumstances.

1. Current status — 28 CFR 107.50(c)

Applies to your situation today, and ends when the situation ends. You are covered if you are: awaiting sentencing for any crime; incarcerated or serving any part of a sentence; in a programme that diverts or replaces conviction; a fugitive from justice; an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance (marijuana alone is expressly carved out); in the United States illegally or on a nonimmigrant visa; under a court order for harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or their child; or required to register as a sex offender for a firearm-disqualifying offence.

The trap. The rule defines "sentence" broadly — it includes probation, parole, home confinement, community service, electronic monitoring, and "a period during the pendency of other unsatisfied penalties such as monetary obligations". An unpaid fine, cost or restitution balance can mean you are still serving your sentence.

2. Permanent — 28 CFR 107.50(a)

No time limit. A felony involving: "the death of another person; rape, sexual abuse, or sexual assault; human trafficking; kidnapping; intimate partner or domestic violence; burglary; robbery; extortion; carjacking; arson; racketeering (if at least one of the predicate racketeering acts is violent); gang-related offenses; maiming, assault, or battery; stalking; escape or rescue of a person in custody; terrorism; witness tampering; brandishing or discharging a firearm or using an explosive; or acts that are the same as or similar to the conduct identified above." It also reaches attempting, soliciting, conspiring, aiding or abetting any of them.

3. Ten years — 28 CFR 107.50(b)(1)–(2)

A felony involving drug trafficking, threats of violence, explosives, certain firearm or ammunition conduct, a firearm or weapon on school property, or animal abuse — or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Two things people miss — both only after a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. In the ten years after such a conviction or sentence, the rule also reaches an arrest — for a felony, for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, or for an offence involving acts or threats of violence, brandishing or discharging a firearm, or using an explosive — unless you submit evidence of "a judicial determination that no misconduct occurred or of a dismissal on the merits" (28 CFR 107.50(b)(2)(ii)(B)). And such an event, or any other federal firearm prohibition, restarts the clock: "If such conduct … occurs, the 10-year period begins anew." Neither applies to the felony list above.

4. Five years — 28 CFR 107.50(b)(3)–(4)

"Any other felony" not on the longer lists, or a misdemeanor assault, battery, stalking, or threatened act of violence.

5. Reapplication — 28 CFR 107.70

A previous refusal on a permanent ground carries no time limit. A previous refusal for most other reasons carries five years. The Department adds the part that catches people: if an application "was denied for other reasons, you will have a 5-year presumptive disqualifier in addition to whatever your initial firearm disability was." A refusal can leave you further back than you started.

And a sixth: mental health — 28 CFR 107.60

A separate provision with its own logic. See the mental-health route.

Two definitions that are not what they sound like

• "Arrest" includes a military apprehension, pretrial restraint, and a citation issued in place of arrest for a criminal violation — but not parking, traffic or fine-only motor-vehicle matters.
• "Convicted" includes a guilty plea, a finding of guilt without judgment, a court-martial judgment, and a plea of nolo contendere.

You must disclose past convictions "even if they were expunged, pardoned, set aside, or similarly amended by a post-conviction event."

The name of the offence is not the end of it

28 CFR 107.10(b): the Attorney General "may consider all the facts underlying the prior offense" and is "not confined to a 'categorical approach' that looks only at the elements of the underlying offense". That cuts both ways.

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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.