When Can You Own a Gun Again After a California Conviction?

Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

For a felony the answer is never, unless the conviction is reduced or pardoned. For a listed misdemeanor it is ten years from the conviction date. A mental health hold runs on its own clock.

At the Law Offices of William W. Bruzzo, an Orange County criminal defense attorney reads the conviction first, because the ban turns on the code section and the date.

How Long Does a California Conviction Ban Firearms?

California sets the ban by the conviction, not the sentence served. Five clocks cover nearly every case.

Felony, from any court. Penal Code 29800 bars firearms for life, and no waiting period ends it.
Listed misdemeanor. Penal Code 29805 imposes a ten-year ban. Criminal threats, assault and battery, domestic battery, restraining order violations, brandishing and stalking sit on that list.
Misdemeanor Penal Code 273.5 on or after January 1, 2019. No ten-year cutoff appears in the statute, and federal law bars firearms for life after a domestic violence misdemeanor.
One involuntary hold that ends in admission. Welfare and Institutions Code 8103 bars firearms for five years after release from the facility, not from the hold itself.
Two qualifying admissions inside one year. The same section bars firearms for the remainder of that person’s life.

Possession with a prior on the violent offense list carries a six-month county jail floor under Penal Code 29900.

Does an Expungement Give Your Gun Rights Back?

An expungement does not restore firearm rights in California, and the statute says so itself. Penal Code 1203.4 provides that a dismissal “does not permit a person to own, possess, or have custody or control of a firearm or to prevent conviction under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 29800).” Federal law follows, because the dismissal keeps the firearm bar in place.

What Actually Restores Firearm Rights in California?

Two things move the date. Reducing a wobbler under Penal Code 17(b) makes it a misdemeanor for all purposes, leaving no felony to support a possession charge. A full pardon under Penal Code 4852.17 restores the right to own a firearm, though never where the felony involved a dangerous weapon.

Two cautions go with a reduction. If the reduced offense sits on the ten-year list, that ban attaches instead, and a domestic violence misdemeanor keeps the federal bar. A certificate of rehabilitation is the application for a pardon, not the relief.

What Has to Happen in the First 48 Hours?

Penal Code 29810 gives 48 hours after a disqualifying conviction to dispose of any firearms if out of custody, and 14 days if in custody, on the state relinquishment form. A protective order triggers the duty sooner, and surrendering firearms after a domestic violence arrest starts before any conviction.

Anyone unsure can order a Personal Firearms Eligibility Check from the Department of Justice for $20, though it does not reach federal databases, so a clear state answer is not a federal clearance.

Ask an Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyer Before You Buy or Keep a Firearm