Restoring State Firearm Rights as a Condition for Restoring Federal Firearm Rights

In 2010, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted G.S. 14-415.4, which allows a person convicted of a nonviolent felony to regain his or her firearm rights if he or she meets the statutory criteria for restoration (including, among other things, waiting twenty years after completing his or her sentence). The law took effect February 1, 2011, meaning that a person who meets the statutory criteria is eligible to utilize the restoration procedure whether his or her offense or conviction occurred before or after February 1, 2011. See S.L. 2010-108 (H 1260), as amended by S.L. 2011-2 (H 18) (clarifying effective date). A restoration order has the effect of lifting the state law ban, in G.S. 14-415.1, on possession of a firearm by a felon. See G.S. 14-415.4(a), (b). It also removes the ban on issuance of a handgun permit, G.S. 14-404(c)(1), and a concealed handgun permit. G.S. 14-415.12(b)(3). In enacting the restoration legislation, the North Carolina General Assembly also had the goal of lifting the federal ban on possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony. See Section 6 of S.L. 2010-108 (directing North Carolina Attorney General to send enacted legislation to federal authorities for review and determination whether person who successfully petitions for restoration may legally purchase and possess firearm under federal law). The federal ban does not literally apply to felony convictions, but it typically does. The ban applies to offenses punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), and excludes misdemeanors [...]