Can You Get Gun Rights Back After Domestic Violence in Arizona?

You took a plea on a domestic violence charge years ago. You finished the classes, paid every fine, and stayed out of trouble since. Then a gun store ran your background check and turned you away, and now you are reading that a domestic violence conviction means a lifetime federal firearm ban.

For most people that ban has an exit, and the exit is a set aside. We file Arizona set aside and firearm rights applications every week, and AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law.

Does a domestic violence conviction take away your gun rights in Arizona?

Yes, and the answer has two layers. Arizona law and federal law treat the same conviction differently, and the federal layer is the one that stops a gun purchase.

Under Arizona law, a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction makes you a prohibited possessor only while you are on probation for it. Once probation ends, the Arizona bar on a misdemeanor ends with it. A felony domestic violence conviction takes your firearm rights away under Arizona law until a judge restores them.

Federal law goes further. Under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), anyone convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence is barred from possessing a firearm, with no end date. That ban applies in Arizona the same as anywhere else. A dealer who runs your name through the federal background check sees the conviction and denies the sale. Holding a gun with that conviction on your record is a federal felony, no matter what Arizona law says.

What makes an Arizona case a domestic violence case?

The relationship between you and the other person. Arizona has no standalone crime called domestic violence. Under A.R.S. § 13-3601, the label attaches to an underlying offense when the relationship fits one of six categories: current or former spouses, people who live or lived in the same household, parents of a child in common, a pregnancy between the two, a listed family or in-law relationship, or a current or former romantic or sexual relationship.

The underlying offenses are ordinary charges. Assault under A.R.S. § 13-1203 is the most common. Disorderly conduct under A.R.S. § 13-2904, criminal damage, threatening, and aggravated assault under A.R.S. § 13-1204 all take the tag when the relationship test is met. The tag follows the conviction into every database a dealer searches, so the first question in any firearm rights case is which underlying offense you pled to.

Which domestic violence convictions trigger the federal gun ban?

Convictions where physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, is an element of the offense, and where the other person fits the federal relationship list in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33). That list covers a current or former spouse, a parent or guardian, a co-parent, a cohabitant who acted as a spouse, and, since 2022, a current or recent former dating partner.

A domestic violence assault under A.R.S. § 13-1203 almost always fits. The United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Castleman that offensive touching counts as physical force, and in Voisine v. United States that reckless conduct counts too, so even a class 3 misdemeanor assault plea lands inside the definition.

Disorderly conduct and criminal damage are closer calls, because physical force is not always an element and federal courts have split on them. Dealers do not sort through elements for you. A domestic violence tag on any conviction tends to produce a denial until a judge signs an order.

Can you get gun rights back after a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction in Arizona?

Yes, for most people, through a set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905. A set aside is an application to the judge who sentenced you. If the judge grants it, the judgment of guilt is set aside, the charge is dismissed, and you are released from the penalties and disabilities of the conviction.

As of 2026, the set aside law works this way on firearms. Subsection O says that if a conviction is set aside, your right to possess a firearm is restored, and it says so notwithstanding the separate restoration law in A.R.S. § 13-910. The only carve-out is a serious offense, and every offense on Arizona’s serious offense list is a felony, so a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction never hits it.

A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction also sits outside the exclusion list in subsection P, which covers dangerous offenses, sex offender registration cases, sexual motivation findings, and felonies against a child under fifteen. There is no waiting period and no clerk filing fee on the application. Our set aside service page explains the filing.

Does an Arizona set aside lift the federal domestic violence gun ban?

The text of the federal law says yes. 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33)(B)(ii) states that a person is not treated as convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence if the conviction has been expunged or set aside. Arizona’s order does what its name says, and A.R.S. § 13-905(O) adds a restoration of firearm rights under Arizona law on top of it.

One clause deserves attention. The federal exception fails if the order that sets the conviction aside expressly bars you from possessing a firearm. An Arizona set aside on a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction carries no such bar, because subsection O restores the right rather than withholding it. A set aside on a serious offense is different, since subsection O skips it, and that reader needs a separate A.R.S. § 13-910 order before a purchase.

The civil rights restoration route in the same clause does not help on a misdemeanor, because Arizona takes no civil rights away for one and rights never lost have nothing to restore. The set aside is the path. Carry the signed order, and if the first background check comes back delayed, the FBI appeal process accepts the order as proof.

What does the judge weigh before granting a set aside on a domestic violence case?

Seven factors listed in A.R.S. § 13-905(C). The judge looks at the nature and circumstances of the offense, your compliance with probation and the sentence, any prior or later convictions, the victim’s input and the status of restitution, the time since you completed the sentence, your age at the conviction, and anything else the judge finds relevant.

Domestic violence cases draw extra scrutiny. The prosecutor and the victim each have thirty days after you file to object, and the victim has the right to be heard at any proceeding on the application. A judge who hears from the other person weighs that heavily. A completed treatment program, a clean record since, and real time between the conviction and the application are what answer it.

Restoration is discretionary. No judge is required to grant a set aside, and a denial on a domestic violence case usually comes down to a thin record of what you did after the conviction. The application is where that record gets built.

Can you get gun rights back after a felony domestic violence conviction?

Often, but the road is longer. A felony domestic violence conviction, such as aggravated assault under A.R.S. § 13-1204 or aggravated domestic violence after a third offense within 84 months, makes you a prohibited possessor under Arizona law and a felon under the federal ban. Three Arizona routes exist.

The set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 restores firearm rights unless the felony was a serious offense. A.R.S. § 13-907 restores rights automatically for a first felony offender who completes the sentence and pays all restitution, but skips firearms on dangerous and serious offenses. The third route is a standalone application under A.R.S. § 13-910, granted or denied at the judge’s discretion. Our firearm rights restoration service covers that filing.

A.R.S. § 13-910 draws two hard lines. A dangerous offense, which A.R.S. § 13-105 defines around a deadly weapon, a dangerous instrument, or serious physical injury, is barred for life. A serious offense carries a ten-year wait from absolute discharge. Aggravated assault with a weapon or a serious injury often lands in one of those boxes, so the exact charge you pled to decides everything.

Does the federal five-year rule for dating relationship cases apply to you?

Only if the other person was a dating partner and never a spouse, a co-parent, or someone who lived with you as a spouse. Congress added dating relationships to the federal definition in 2022 and paired the change with a narrow exit under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33)(C). A person with one such conviction, and nothing else disqualifying, is no longer barred once five years pass from the judgment or the end of any custody or supervision, whichever comes later, with no new disqualifying offense in between.

The exit never applies to a second domestic violence conviction, and it does nothing to the Arizona conviction itself, which stays on your public record and on every background check an employer or landlord runs.

That is why most people with a dating relationship case still file the set aside. The set aside clears the federal ban sooner, restores the right under Arizona law, and gets the charge dismissed on the record.

What if the domestic violence charge was dismissed or you were found not guilty?

Then no conviction exists and no conviction-based gun ban applies. A dismissal, a not guilty verdict, or a charge dropped after diversion leaves your firearm rights where they were. The one exception is an active order of protection, which carries its own temporary firearm ban under Arizona and federal law and ends when the order ends.

The record still exists, and that is what trips people up. The arrest and the charge sit in the public court file, and an employer who sees a domestic violence charge often reads it as a conviction. Sealing fixes that. Under A.R.S. § 13-911, a dismissed or acquitted case has no waiting period, so you file as soon as the case closes. Our guide on sealing a domestic violence charge without a conviction walks through the filing. Search your Arizona record first to see what a dealer sees.

Does sealing a domestic violence record restore gun rights?

No. Sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 takes the case out of the public court record and off most background checks. The section never mentions firearms, and a sealed conviction is still a conviction under the federal ban. The federal exception names expunged and set aside convictions, not sealed ones.

Sealing has limits. It removes the public court record. It does not remove a Google result, a news story, or a mugshot website. After a grant, the record stays open for 60 days before the seal takes effect, and a denial bars a refile for three years. A class 1 misdemeanor conviction waits three years after you finish the sentence and pay everything owed, and a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor waits two.

The strong play on a domestic violence conviction is both filings together. The set aside restores the firearm right and dismisses the charge. Sealing the record hides the case from the people who would judge you for it. Our post on what a set aside does for gun rights covers the first half.

Why should you choose AZ Record Removal?

Because Arizona record relief is the only work we do, and domestic violence set asides are a large share of it. We pull your record first and tell you what it shows before you pay. If the conviction is a serious or dangerous offense and the law blocks restoration, you hear that on the first call, not after a fee.

We file the set aside, the firearm rights application, and the sealing request together when your case qualifies for all three. We track the thirty-day objection window, respond when the prosecutor or the victim objects, and prepare you if the judge sets a hearing. We handle every Arizona county remotely, so you never drive to a courthouse. One flat fee covers every filing on a case, and the numbers live on our pricing page.

AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law. Our founder, Zachary Divelbiss, cleared his own record before he cleared anyone else’s. We have 250+ five-star Google reviews, and our case victories page shows the grants.

What should you do next?

Find out which underlying offense you were convicted of and when you finished the sentence. Those two answers decide whether the federal ban applies and whether a serious offense carve-out blocks the set aside. A set aside reaches only an Arizona conviction, so a case from another state needs relief there. Take our free eligibility quiz for a first read in a few minutes.

Then call 602-900-6240. Our phones are answered around the clock, and we schedule consultations during business hours. We tell you what we would file, what the judge will weigh, and what it costs. No judge is required to grant a set aside, and a domestic violence case gets a harder look than most. A complete application in front of the right judge is the work we do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a domestic violence conviction a lifetime gun ban in Arizona?

Under federal law, yes, until the conviction is set aside. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) has no expiration for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. An Arizona set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 is the filing that ends it, because federal law excludes a conviction that has been set aside and subsection O restores the firearm right under Arizona law. Dating relationship cases have a narrow five-year federal exit.

How long after a domestic violence conviction before you file for a set aside?

As soon as you finish probation or the sentence and the judge discharges you. A.R.S. § 13-905 sets no waiting period. In practice, judges weigh time since completion as one of seven factors, so a filing a few months after discharge faces more resistance than one filed after a few clean years. There is no clerk filing fee on the application.

Does the prosecutor or the victim get a say on your set aside?

Yes. Both have thirty days after you file to object, and the victim has the right to attend and be heard at any proceeding on the application. If an objection comes in, the judge decides whether to hold a hearing. A strong application anticipates the objection and answers it with the treatment program certificate, proof of payment, and your record since the case.

Does a set aside remove the domestic violence conviction from a background check?

No. The set aside dismisses the charge and restores rights, but the case stays public with a note that the judgment was set aside. Taking the case out of public view is a separate sealing filing under A.R.S. § 13-911, which carries a three-year wait after a class 1 misdemeanor conviction. Most people file both.