What Federal Gun Limits Remain After Arizona Restores Rights?

A judge signed the order and your Arizona gun rights are back. Now you want to know whether the dealer’s background check will agree. For most people it does, and for some, a federal rule the Arizona judge never touched still blocks the sale.

We handle Arizona record relief every day, and firearm restoration is one of the filings we see most. AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law.

Does an Arizona court order restore your federal gun rights?

Yes, when the order is the right one and the conviction came from an Arizona court. Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year from possessing a firearm. The same law, at 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20), says a conviction set aside, expunged, or followed by a restoration of civil rights no longer counts. It also says whether you stand convicted is decided under the law of the place where the case was heard. For an Arizona case, Arizona law answers.

An order under A.R.S. § 13-910 restores your right to possess or carry a firearm. A set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 restores the same right in most cases. Either order, read against the federal definition, takes you out of the felony ban for the conviction it names. Our firearm rights restoration page covers who qualifies. The rest of this post covers the federal gun limits Arizona orders do not reach.

What is the “unless” clause and why does it matter?

It is the one sentence in federal law most likely to trip an Arizona reader. The exception for restored rights ends with “unless” the restoration expressly keeps the person from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms. The Supreme Court read it in Caron v. United States in 1998. Massachusetts had restored a man’s rights but kept him from carrying handguns. The Supreme Court held a partial restoration counts as none at all, so the full federal ban covered every gun he owned.

Arizona has its own version. In Jennings v. Mukasey, a 2007 Ninth Circuit case, an Arizona man had his felony set aside, but Arizona law kept his firearm rights off the table for his class of crime. He applied for a federal firearms license and lost. The set aside did nothing for him federally because it left the one right federal law cares about untouched. Read your order. If it restores civil rights and stays silent on firearms, or keeps any firearm limit, the federal ban stays.

Which Arizona orders count under federal law?

Only the ones restoring the firearm right itself. Here is how each Arizona filing lines up against the federal definition.

Arizona filing	What it does in Arizona	Federal effect
A.R.S. § 13-910 restoration order	Restores the right to possess or carry a firearm	Lifts the felony ban for the conviction it names
A.R.S. § 13-905 set aside	Sets aside the judgment and restores firearm rights, serious offenses excluded	Lifts the ban when the order restores the right, leaves it when the order keeps a limit
A.R.S. § 13-907 automatic restoration	Restores civil and firearm rights for a first felony offender at discharge, dangerous and serious offenses excluded	Lifts the ban, and A.R.S. § 13-908 lets you get a signed order to show the dealer
A.R.S. § 36-2862 marijuana expungement	Vacates the judgment	Lifts the ban, since federal law names expungement
A.R.S. § 13-911 sealing	Hides the public court record	None, a sealed conviction is still a conviction
A.R.S. § 13-604 designation	Turns a class 6 felony into a class 1 misdemeanor	Changes the label Arizona reports, see the misdemeanor section below

Sealing deserves its own line. Sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 removes the public court record. It does not remove a Google result, a news story, or a mugshot site, and it does not restore a single right. Our post on whether a set aside restores gun rights covers what the set aside order itself says.

What if your conviction is federal?

An Arizona judge is not able to fix it. The Supreme Court settled this in Beecham v. United States in 1994. For a federal conviction, only a federal expungement, set aside, restoration, or grant of clemency counts under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20). Arizona lets a first federal offender apply in superior court under A.R.S. § 13-908 for civil rights, and the order is real for Arizona purposes. It does not reach the federal firearm ban.

The federal route is 18 U.S.C. 925(c), which lets the Attorney General lift the ban for a person who shows the public would not be endangered. Congress cut off its funding in 1992, and for more than thirty years no application was processed. In 2025 the Department of Justice took the program back from ATF and began building an application process. As of 2026, treat it as new, slow and selective. If your only conviction is federal, this process and executive clemency are the two doors, and neither runs through an Arizona courtroom.

What if your conviction came from another state?

The same rule applies in reverse. Federal law looks to the law of the place where the case was heard, so a Texas conviction is judged by Texas law. An Arizona order speaks for Arizona. It does not change what Texas says about you, and the federal definition only asks what Texas says.

This catches people who moved here years ago. They finish a sentence elsewhere, build a life in Arizona, and file here. The dealer’s check still reads an out-of-state felony with no restoration from the convicting court. The fix is relief in the original state, by whatever name it uses there. Each state has its own route, and some never restore for certain crimes. Before you file anything in Arizona, we pull your record so you know which court holds each conviction. Start with our Arizona record search page.

Does a domestic violence misdemeanor stay a federal problem?

Often, yes, and this trap holds more people than any other. A misdemeanor crime of domestic violence bars firearm possession under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9). Arizona never takes civil rights away for a misdemeanor, so the “civil rights restored” exception has nothing to restore. The federal definition at 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(33) still names a set aside and an expungement as ways out, so a set aside under A.R.S. § 13-905 is the filing to look at for an Arizona misdemeanor tagged under A.R.S. § 13-3601.

The “unless” clause applies here too. If the set aside order keeps a firearm limit, the federal ban stays. Our post on getting gun rights back after domestic violence walks through who qualifies and what the order has to say.

Does marijuana use still block a purchase?

Yes, under federal law, and the Arizona order does nothing about it. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) bars any unlawful user of a controlled substance from possessing a firearm, and marijuana stays a controlled substance under federal law. ATF has said since 2011 a person who uses marijuana is an unlawful user no matter what state law allows, and a medical marijuana card alone is enough for a dealer to refuse the sale. Form 4473, the form you fill out at the counter, asks the question and warns you in the same box about state legalization.

A false answer on the form is a federal felony. Some courts have sided with occasional users since 2022, but the Ninth Circuit, which covers Arizona, upheld the refusal for medical card holders. If you use marijuana, lawful in Arizona or not, the restoration order will not get you past the form. We tell you this before you file.

What other federal bars survive an Arizona restoration order?

Several, and none of them care about the old felony. Federal law lists nine groups of prohibited persons in 18 U.S.C. 922(g). A restoration order addresses one group. The rest stand on their own.

• An active order of protection covering an intimate partner or a child, under 922(g)(8). The Supreme Court upheld this bar in 2024.
• A pending felony charge, under 922(n), which blocks receiving a firearm while the case is open.
• A court-ordered mental health commitment or a finding of mental incompetence, under 922(g)(4).
• A dishonorable discharge from the armed forces.
• Fugitive status.
• Unlawful immigration status, and most nonimmigrant visas.
• A renounced United States citizenship.

Arizona mirrors most of these in its prohibited possessor law, and holding a gun while prohibited is misconduct involving weapons under A.R.S. § 13-3102, a felony. An order restoring rights after an old conviction says nothing about an active order of protection or an open case. Clear every item on this list before you buy.

Will the background check system know your rights are restored?

Not on its own, and this is where people with a valid order still get denied. An Arizona dealer runs the check through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS. NICS reads the records the FBI holds plus what Arizona DPS has sent. If your file has not been updated with the restoration order, the check reads an old felony and comes back denied or delayed.

A delay is not a denial. If NICS says nothing more within three business days, the dealer is allowed to complete the sale. A denial comes with a transaction number. Use it. The FBI has a written appeal process, and you send a certified copy of the order with it. Once the appeal clears, ask for the Voluntary Appeal File. It attaches a unique number to your name so every later check pulls the corrected record. Keep certified copies of your order at home and bring one to the dealer.

Are Arizona misdemeanors and designated felonies federal problems?

Arizona misdemeanors, no. A class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum of six months under A.R.S. § 13-707, and federal law excludes any state misdemeanor punishable by two years or less from the felony ban. The two exceptions are the domestic violence rule above and the drug user rule, which turns on use rather than on the class of the offense.

Designated felonies are the gray area. While a class 6 felony sits undesignated, A.R.S. § 13-604(B) treats it as a felony for firearm purposes, so Arizona and federal law both see a prohibited person. Once the judge designates it a misdemeanor, Arizona treats it as a misdemeanor for all purposes, and federal law borrows Arizona’s label. Federal law also asks what the crime was punishable by, and a class 6 felony carried more than a year on the day of sentencing. Which question controls is not settled, so do not rely on the label alone. We file the set aside alongside the designation when the case qualifies, so you hold an order restoring the firearm right by name. Our page on designating a felony to a misdemeanor explains how the two filings fit.

Why should you choose AZ Record Removal?

Arizona record relief is the only work we do, and AZ Record Removal is owned and powered by Future First Criminal Law. Our founder, Zachary Divelbiss, cleared six convictions of his own before he filed for anyone else. We pull your record before you pay and tell you which court holds each conviction, which order each one needs, and whether a federal limit will outlast the Arizona order.

We file the applications, we track the court, and we read the signed order line by line against the federal “unless” clause before we call it done. The fee is flat at $1,700 per case with no court fees or add-ons, and the full numbers sit on our pricing page. We work statewide, everything happens virtually, and our phones are answered around the clock at 602-900-6240, with consultations scheduled during business hours. We hold 250+ five-star Google reviews. No judge is required to grant any filing, and we say so up front.

What should you do next?

Start before you walk into a dealer. A denied check goes into the FBI’s file, and a false answer on the form is a new federal case, so the order of operations matters. Take our free eligibility quiz to see which Arizona filings your case qualifies for. Then call 602-900-6240. We will tell you what your record shows, what order your conviction needs, and whether a federal limit will survive it. If the problem is a federal or out-of-state conviction, we tell you before you spend a dollar on an Arizona filing. As of 2026, the Arizona side of this process is the part you control, and it is the part to file first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an Arizona set aside restore gun rights under federal law?

Yes, when the set aside order restores your right to possess a firearm. A.R.S. § 13-905 does this in most cases, and the federal definition of a conviction excludes a set aside. The exception is a serious offense, where the set aside leaves the firearm right alone. Then the federal ban stays until a separate restoration order is granted.

Will a sealed Arizona record pass a federal gun background check?

No. Sealing under A.R.S. § 13-911 removes the public court record. It does not vacate the conviction or restore any right. The federal ban attaches to the conviction itself, not to who is allowed to see it, so a sealed felony is still a felony to the dealer’s check. A restoration order or a set aside is the filing a firearm purchase needs.

Does a marijuana expungement count under federal law?

Yes. An expungement under A.R.S. § 36-2862 vacates the judgment, and 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20) names expungement as one of the ways a conviction stops counting. The drug user rule is separate. If you still use marijuana, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) bars you from possessing a firearm no matter what the expungement order says.

What if the dealer denies you after the order is signed?

Ask for the NICS transaction number and file a written appeal with the FBI, attaching a certified copy of your Arizona order. Then request the Voluntary Appeal File so later checks pull the corrected record. Do not try again at another dealer before the appeal clears. A second denial adds a second record and changes nothing.