For almost anyone with a felony record, the answer to whether felons can buy guns is no. Federal law prohibits any person convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from buying, receiving, or possessing a firearm or ammunition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The prohibition is not tied to whether the person actually went to prison, and it applies whether the purchase is from a licensed dealer or a private seller. A handful of narrow statutory exceptions exist, and a pardon, expungement, or court-ordered restoration of rights can lift the ban, but the default rule reaches the vast majority of felony convictions in every state.
What the Federal Ban Covers
The controlling statute is 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). It makes it a federal crime for a person convicted of a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year” to possess, receive, ship, or transport a firearm or ammunition.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Read that phrase carefully. The law looks at what the crime could have been punished by, not what the judge actually handed down. Probation for a felony that carried a possible five-year sentence still triggers the ban. So does a suspended sentence, a deferred judgment that resulted in a conviction, and an old conviction from decades ago.
The prohibition also applies to anyone currently under indictment for such a crime, and it is a separate federal offense to sell or give a firearm to someone you know or have reason to believe is a prohibited person.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The ban attaches to the person, not the transaction. Buying from a friend, at a gun show, or through a private sale does not make possession legal for a felon.
State law sits on top of this federal floor. Many states go further, treating certain misdemeanors as disqualifying or imposing lifetime bans for specific offenses. Where federal and state law overlap, the stricter rule controls.
Felonies are the most common trigger for the federal ban, but not the only one. Section 922(g) also reaches fugitives, unlawful users of controlled substances, people involuntarily committed to a mental institution, individuals dishonorably discharged from the military, people subject to qualifying domestic violence restraining orders, and anyone with a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Possession Is Broader Than Buying
The ban is not just about walking into a store. Federal courts read “possession” broadly. Direct physical control of a gun is the obvious form, but prosecutors also charge constructive possession, meaning you knew a firearm was present and had the ability to access or control it. A gun kept in a shared home or in a vehicle you regularly use can create a constructive possession problem for a felon in the household, even without ever touching the weapon. If someone with a felony conviction lives where firearms are stored, the safest course is to make sure they have no access to or control over them.
The Narrow Exceptions
A conviction for a crime carrying more than a year does not always trigger the ban. Federal law carves out two categories in the definition of a disqualifying offense:
The business-crime exception is narrow. It covers restraint of trade and unfair business practices, not white-collar crime generally. Someone convicted of fraud, embezzlement, or tax evasion should not assume it applies.
Antique Firearms
Federal law defines “firearm” in a way that excludes antique firearms, so the felon-in-possession ban does not reach them. An antique is a weapon manufactured in or before 1898, a replica that does not use modern rimfire or centerfire ammunition, or a muzzle-loader designed to use black powder that cannot accept fixed ammunition.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions Two caveats matter. A muzzle-loader that has been converted from a modern firearm, or that can be readily converted to fire fixed ammunition, does not qualify. And ammunition designed for use in both antique and modern firearms is still “ammunition” under federal law, so possessing it can independently violate the ban. States may also impose their own restrictions on antiques regardless of the federal carve-out.
Restoring Firearm Rights
Federal law says that a conviction that has been expunged, set aside, or pardoned, or for which civil rights have been restored, no longer counts as a disqualifying conviction. The critical catch: if the pardon, expungement, or restoration order expressly states that the person may not possess firearms, the conviction still counts.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions Some states routinely restore voting and other civil rights after a sentence ends but specifically exclude firearm rights. Someone in that position remains federally prohibited.
The realistic paths are:
- A pardon from the governor for a state conviction or from the President for a federal conviction. If the pardon does not restrict firearm rights, it removes the federal disability.
- Expungement or a set-aside order in a state that allows felony convictions to be cleared after a waiting period, again provided the order does not expressly bar firearm possession.
- A state court petition specifically to restore firearm rights. Many states have this process; filing fees vary from nothing to a few hundred dollars.
Federal law technically allows a prohibited person to apply directly to the ATF for relief under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), but this door has been closed to individuals for decades. Congress has attached language to ATF appropriations bills since the 1990s barring the agency from spending money to investigate individual applications. The most recent budget continues that restriction and lets the ATF process relief applications only from corporations.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fiscal Year 2025 Performance Budget Submission For individuals, state-level remedies are the only working option.
What Happens at the Gun Counter
A purchase from a federally licensed dealer requires the buyer to complete ATF Form 4473. The form asks directly about disqualifying convictions and conditions. The dealer then runs the buyer through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which searches federal and state records for prohibiting entries.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Most Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers A disqualifying record produces a denial, and the sale cannot go forward.
Lying on Form 4473 is its own federal crime. Knowingly answering “no” to the felony question when the true answer is “yes” carries a penalty of up to five years in federal prison, and that charge is independent of any possession charge that follows.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties Prosecutors do bring these cases.
Penalties for Possession by a Felon
A felon caught with a firearm faces serious federal exposure. Following amendments in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, a violation of the felon-in-possession ban carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in federal prison under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2).7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties Fines can reach $250,000 under general federal sentencing provisions. Felon-in-possession is among the most commonly filed federal firearms charges, and the federal penalties stack on top of any state charges. Many states have their own felon-in-possession statutes with independent prison terms, so a single incident can produce both federal and state prosecution.
Do the Recent Supreme Court Cases Change the Answer?
Two recent decisions have reshaped how courts evaluate firearms laws without dismantling the ban on felon possession.
In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the Court held that firearms regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation to survive a Second Amendment challenge. A concurring opinion in Bruen went out of its way to say that “nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons,” listing such laws as presumptively lawful.8Supreme Court of the United States. New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen
In United States v. Rahimi (2024), the Court applied the Bruen framework and upheld the federal ban on firearm possession by someone subject to a domestic violence restraining order, finding that historical firearm laws have long included provisions disarming people who threaten physical harm to others.9Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi
These rulings have produced a wave of lower-court challenges, including from defendants arguing that their specific nonviolent convictions should not strip their Second Amendment rights permanently. A handful of lower courts have agreed in narrow circumstances, but the broad federal ban remains intact and enforceable. Anyone with a felony conviction should treat the prohibition as fully in effect unless a pardon, expungement, or court order has specifically restored their rights.