What a person barred from guns may and may not do under federal law

This page covers federal law only. Your state may bar more than federal law does. See your state's route →

What the federal bar covers

18 U.S.C. 922(g) makes it unlawful for a person in any of its nine groups "to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce." Who is in the nine groups →

• "Firearm" includes "the frame or receiver of any such weapon" (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3)).
• "Ammunition" means "ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellent powder designed for use in any firearm" (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(A)). So the bar reaches ammunition and its parts, not only guns.

A shooting range, a rental, or someone else's gun

Section 922(g) does not list any exception for a shooting range, a rented gun, or a gun that someone else hands you. The words it uses are "possess" and "receive". Whether a particular situation is "possession" is a legal question. Ask a lawyer licensed in your state before you go.

Black powder and muzzleloaders

Federal law treats some muzzleloaders differently:

• The definition of "firearm" ends: "Such term does not include an antique firearm." (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3))
• An "antique firearm" includes "any muzzle loading rifle, muzzle loading shotgun, or muzzle loading pistol, which is designed to use black powder, or a black powder substitute, and which cannot use fixed ammunition" (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16)(C)).
• But not every muzzleloader. The same clause leaves out "any weapon which incorporates a firearm frame or receiver, any firearm which is converted into a muzzle loading weapon, or any muzzle loading weapon which can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition by replacing the barrel, bolt, breechblock, or any combination thereof." Those are firearms.
• The regulation's definition of "ammunition" covers ammunition "designed for use in any firearm other than an antique firearm" (27 CFR 478.11).

So, under federal law, a muzzleloader that meets that definition is not a "firearm" for the 922(g) bar, and one that does not meet it is. State law may treat every muzzleloader as a firearm. Check your state before you buy or use one.

Air guns and BB guns

The federal definition of "firearm" is a weapon that "will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive" (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3)). State and local laws can be broader. Check your state.

Living with someone who owns guns

18 U.S.C. 922 (read October 8, 2026) does not say when sharing a home with a gun owner becomes "possession". This site read no court decision on it. Ask a lawyer licensed in your state.

How the bar ends

• A bar based on a conviction can lift through a qualifying pardon, expungement, set-aside or restoration of civil rights (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20); for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33)(B)(ii)).
• A bar based on a current status (the 922(g) groups written "who is", for example a person "who is a fugitive from justice") applies while that status lasts.
• Other bars (for example an adjudication or commitment under 922(g)(4), or a dishonorable discharge under 922(g)(6)) are neither of these. Ask a lawyer about your case. For 922(g)(4), see the mental-health bar →: if your state has a relief program, the Department expects you to use it first (28 CFR 107.60(b)).
• For any federal bar, there is also federal relief. The DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney says that "under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), the Attorney General can restore the federal firearms rights of a person who is prohibited from owning a firearm under federal law." The Department's rule presumptively denies some applicants. Who is presumptively denied →
• Federal relief: the FFRR program →
• Your state's route →

This is a private website, not a government site. Information with sources and check dates — not legal advice, and never a decision about you.