Domestic Violence, DUI Expungement, and Firearm Rights

If you are convicted of a qualifying misdemeanor crime of domestic violence (MCDV) you generally are prohibited under federal law from possessing any firearm or ammunition. This includes shipping or transporting any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce and from receiving any such firearm or ammunition.

However, expungement will lift the disabilities and penalties associated with the original domestic violence conviction. Therefore, an expungement will restore gun ownership rights under federal law.

A qualifying MCDV is an offense that:

 Is a federal, state, or local offense that is a misdemeanor under federal or state law;
 Has an element the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon; and,
 At the time the MCDV was committed, the defendant was:

• A current or former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim;
• A person with whom the victim shared a child in common;
• A person who was cohabiting with or had cohabited with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian; or,
• A person who was or had been similarly situated to a spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim.

A person has not been convicted of a qualifying MCDV:

 IF the person was not represented by counsel—unless he or she knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel;
 IF the person was entitled to a jury trial AND the case was not tried by a jury—unless the person knowingly and intelligently waived the right to jury trial; or,
 IF the conviction was set aside or expunged; the person was pardoned; or, the person’s civil rights—the right to vote, sit on a jury, and hold elected office—were restored (if the law of the applicable jurisdiction provides for the loss of civil rights under such an offense).

BUT: This exception does NOT lift the federal firearms prohibition if:

• The expungement, pardon, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms; or,
• The person is otherwise prohibited by the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held from receiving or possessing any firearms.

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