Can I Own a Gun With a Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Conviction?

A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction triggers a federal lifetime ban on possessing firearms or ammunition, so in most cases you cannot legally own a gun with a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction on your record. The prohibition comes from the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act, and violating it can bring up to 15 years in federal prison.¹ A pending charge is different: an arrest or accusation by itself does not trigger the federal ban, but a protective order issued during the case can independently strip your gun rights for as long as the order is in effect.

Charge Versus Conviction

The federal firearm ban at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) applies only to someone “convicted in any court” of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.² If you have been charged but not convicted, that specific prohibition does not apply to you yet.

You are not necessarily in the clear, though. Courts routinely enter protective orders alongside domestic violence charges, and a qualifying order triggers a separate federal firearm ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). If the order was issued after a hearing where you received notice and had a chance to participate, and it either finds you a credible threat to the other person’s safety or expressly prohibits you from using force against them, you cannot legally possess firearms while it remains in effect.³ The Supreme Court upheld this protective-order ban in 2024.⁴ Violating either the protective-order ban or the conviction-based ban carries the same maximum penalty of 15 years.¹

What the Federal Ban Prohibits

The Lautenberg Amendment makes it a federal crime for anyone convicted of a qualifying misdemeanor to possess, ship, transport, or receive any firearm or ammunition.² Every kind of firearm and every round of ammunition is covered. It applies at home, at work, and everywhere in between, and it applies no matter how long ago the conviction happened.

“Possess” is read broadly. You do not have to own the gun. If a firearm is accessible to you in your home, car, or workplace, you can be treated as possessing it even when it belongs to someone else.

There is no professional exemption. Law enforcement officers and military personnel with a qualifying conviction cannot carry a firearm even while on duty, which often ends their careers.⁵

One narrow category falls outside the ban. Federal law defines “firearm” to exclude antique firearms, which include weapons manufactured in or before 1898, replicas that do not use modern ammunition, and muzzle-loading black-powder weapons that cannot accept fixed ammunition.⁶ These are not covered by Lautenberg at the federal level. Some states define firearms more broadly and do not recognize this exception, so state law can still reach them.

Which Convictions Actually Count

Your conviction does not have to be labeled “domestic violence” for the federal ban to apply. A simple assault, a battery, or even a disorderly conduct conviction can qualify if the underlying facts involved physical force against someone in a covered relationship.⁵ Three things determine whether your conviction counts: the relationship, the conduct, and the due process behind the conviction itself.

The Relationship

The ban applies when the victim was:

A spouse or former spouse
A parent or guardian of the offender, or someone in a similar role
Someone who shares a child with the offender
A cohabitant or former cohabitant who lived with the offender as a spouse, parent, or guardian
A current or recent dating partner

The dating-partner category was added by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022. Before that, a conviction involving a partner you never lived with fell outside the federal ban. It no longer does, though as covered below, dating-partner convictions come with a restoration path that other relationships do not have.⁷

The Conduct

The offense must have involved the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon. The Supreme Court reads “physical force” broadly here. In United States v. Castleman, the Court held that even the slightest offensive touching is enough. In Voisine v. United States, the Court added that reckless domestic assault also qualifies, meaning you did not need to intend harm.⁸ The practical result is a very low bar: any physical contact or reckless injury against someone in a qualifying relationship will almost always meet it.

Due Process

Not every conviction counts. The conviction must satisfy basic fairness standards. You must have been represented by counsel or knowingly and intelligently waived that right. If you were entitled to a jury trial, the case must have actually been tried by a jury, or you must have knowingly waived that right through a guilty plea or otherwise.⁷ A conviction that skipped these protections does not trigger the federal ban. If you pleaded guilty years ago without a lawyer or without understanding your rights, this is worth investigating.

Guilty Pleas, Diversion, and Deferred Adjudication

A guilty plea to a qualifying offense counts as a conviction. So does a no-contest plea that results in a final judgment.

Pretrial diversion and deferred adjudication are different. If you completed a diversion program and the charge was dismissed without a formal conviction, you have not been “convicted” for Lautenberg purposes. Deferred prosecutions and similar civilian dispositions likewise do not count as convictions under the federal statute.⁵

If you are currently facing a charge and gun rights matter to you, raise this fork with your attorney directly. Whether the resolution takes the form of a diversion or a standard guilty plea can be the difference between keeping and losing your firearms for life.

Guns in a Shared Household

If you live with someone who legally owns firearms, their guns become your legal problem. Because possession includes access and control, a firearm stored in a shared closet or an unlocked cabinet can be treated as being in your possession even when the title clearly belongs to your spouse or roommate.

The Department of Justice’s guidance is that anyone living with a prohibited person must ensure the prohibited person cannot access any firearm. Simply hiding a gun does not count as secure storage.⁹ Workable options include:

Storing unloaded firearms in a safe, lock box, or storage case that the prohibited person has no key or combination for
Adding trigger or cable locks on top of locked storage
Disassembling the firearm and storing components in separate locations
Moving the firearms off-site entirely, to a trusted family member or a commercial storage facility

Every key and combination must be kept where the prohibited person cannot find or reach it.⁹ This is where people get into federal trouble without realizing it. Prosecutors do not have to prove you fired or held the gun; realistic access is enough.

Surrendering Firearms After Conviction

Once a qualifying conviction is entered, any firearms and ammunition in your possession need to go, immediately. Federal law does not prescribe a single national surrender procedure, so the exact steps depend on where you live. The usual options are turning firearms over to local law enforcement, selling or transferring them to a licensed dealer, or transferring them to someone who is legally allowed to possess them.

The DOJ has told federal prosecutors to coordinate with state and local law enforcement so that firearms are actually removed from prohibited individuals, and in volatile cases law enforcement may obtain a warrant to seize weapons on the spot.⁵ Many states also impose their own surrender deadlines, sometimes as short as 24 to 48 hours after conviction or the entry of a protective order. Missing those deadlines stacks state charges on top of the federal exposure.

State Law Adds to Federal Law

Federal law sets a floor. States are free to go further, and many do. A state may define qualifying relationships more broadly, extend the ban to a wider range of misdemeanors, or prohibit gun possession on the basis of a protective order without any criminal conviction at all. Surrender deadlines and criminal penalties for missing them are also a state-by-state question.

State and federal prohibitions run independently. You can be clear under one and prohibited under the other. When they differ, the safer assumption is to follow whichever is more restrictive.

Getting Your Firearm Rights Back

For most people the federal ban is effectively permanent, but there are a few legal pathways out. None of them is quick, and none is guaranteed.

Pardon, Expungement, or Restoration of Civil Rights

A full pardon (from the governor, or from the president for a federal conviction), a court-ordered expungement, or a restoration of civil rights can lift the federal ban. The catch is that the relief must be complete. If the document expressly says you may not possess firearms, the federal ban stays in place.⁷

Whether expungement is even available depends on state law. Some states allow it for misdemeanor domestic violence convictions; others do not. Court filing fees for an expungement petition typically run $100 to $400, and attorney fees generally fall between $1,000 and $5,000 depending on complexity and the local market.

The Five-Year Path for Dating-Partner Convictions

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act created a narrower restoration route that applies only to convictions involving a dating partner. It does not apply to convictions involving a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, co-parent, or anyone similarly situated to a spouse. If you have no more than one qualifying conviction, your firearm rights are automatically restored once five years have passed from the later of the judgment of conviction or the completion of any custodial or supervised sentence, as long as you pick up no other disqualifying conviction in the meantime. The statute requires NICS to be updated to reflect that restored status.⁷

For every other covered relationship, this five-year path is expressly unavailable, and a pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights remains the only option.⁷

Cleaning Up the Background Check System

Even after your rights are restored, you can still get flagged at a gun counter because the background check databases lag behind your actual legal status. The FBI runs a Voluntary Appeal File (VAF) for this. You apply for a Unique Personal Identification Number (UPIN) and provide verified biographic information along with supporting documents like your pardon or expungement order, and future NICS checks reference that record.¹⁰

You can apply electronically through the FBI’s Electronic Departmental Order system or by mailing a paper application and fingerprint card to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The process takes a couple of months. A VAF application requires fingerprints and basic identifying information; a Social Security number is not mandatory but is strongly recommended.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 922 – Unlawful Acts
4
Supreme Court of the United States. United States v. Rahimi
5
Department of Justice Archives. Criminal Resource Manual 1117 – Restrictions on Possession of Firearms by Individuals Convicted of a Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 921 – Definitions
8
Legal Information Institute. Voisine v. United States
9
Department of Justice. Safe Storage of Firearms
10
FBI. Voluntary Appeal File