If your rights to possess a firearm and/or ammunition have been permanently taken away and you want to be able to lawfully possess a firearm and/or ammunition, you will need to ask the court to restore your rights. This process is commonly referred to as Restoration of Civil Rights.
Thus, even if you have had a conviction expunged in California, you will still have the ban if that conviction was for a felony or for a qualifying misdemeanor that triggered either a ten-year or lifetime ban on owning or possessing a firearm. Unlawfully owning or possessing a firearm is a crime.
In August 2023, a new law went into effect that requires you to fill out a specific form for private firearm transfers. The form is accessible online. To buy, sell or transfer firearms in a private transaction from one individual in Minnesota to another, you do not need a federal firearms license (FFL).
Prop 47 Does Not Restore Firearm Rights A Prop 47 reduction from a felony to a misdemeanor will not restore your firearm rights. In order to restore your firearm rights, you will first need to reduce your felony to a misdemeanor for all purposes under Penal Code 17b, not Prop 47.
The bill, authored by Rep. Kaela Berg (DFL - Burnsville), makes straw purchases of firearms a felony and improves the effectiveness of the current law prohibiting the activity, strengthens the statutory definition of trigger activators, and requires reporting on gun trafficking and firearm seizures.
If your rights have not been permanently taken away, the court will automatically restore your civil rights to possess a firearm and ammunition as soon as the law allows. If you believe that your permit to carry was improperly denied, you can ask the court to review the denial.
For those with more than one conviction, the court may restore firearms rights two years after completion of sentence for most felonies, or after 10 years for a serious felony (such as murder or sexual assault). For a person convicted of a “dangerous felony” firearms rights may only be restored by pardon.
A person presently charged with a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year is not entitled to receive any handgun or semiautomatic military-style assault weapon. In addition, persons under age 18 may not generally possess a handgun or a semiautomatic military-style assault weapon.