Prev Next

Can a felon own a gun in the United States?

By: Nicholas Gerbis  |  Updated: Apr 11, 2023

Lots More Information

Author's Note: Can a felon own a gun in the United States?

 I completed an article on whether countries with stricter gun laws really have less crime or fewer homicides. While writing that article and this one, the news continued to deliver reports of shooting after shooting — some large, some small, all appalling.

For example, Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old girl who attended high school a mile from President Obama's house and performed with her high school band at his inaugural weekend, was shot and killed when a gunman opened fire on a group of teenagers at a Chicago park. No side of the gun debate was slow in using the event to champion its point of view.

I don't claim to know the answer to gun violence, but I do suspect that there's little we can meaningfully say about guns, or the effectiveness of gun policies, while so many loopholes gape in the statutes, while regulations go unenforced, and while state and local laws remain such a hodgepodge.

Related Articles

  • 6 U.S.C. § 531. "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives." http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title6/html/USCODE-2011-title6-chap1-subchapXI-partB-sec531.htm
  • 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "Michael Moore, et al., and Mary e. Shepard, et al., v. Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois, et al." Nos. 12-1269, 12-1788. 2012. 
  • 18 U.S.C. § 922. "Unlawful Acts." http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title18/pdf/USCODE-2011-title18-partI-chap44-sec922.pdf
  • 18 U.S.C. § 925. "Exceptions: Relief from Disabilities." http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/925
  • 28 CFR 1. "Executive Clemency." 
  • Black's Law Dictionary. "Civil Death." West. 1983.
  • Black's Law Dictionary. "Civil Disabilities." West. 1983.
  • Black's Law Dictionary. "Constructive Possession." West. 1983.
  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "General Questions." http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/general.html#firearms-relief-alternates
  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "State Laws and Published Ordinances --Firearms." 31st Ed. 2010 - 2011. 
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Civil Death." 20th Century Edition. Vol. 26. 1902.
  • Federal Register. "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau." https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/alcohol-tobacco-firearms-and-explosives-bureau
  • Finney, John W. "Gun Control Bill Blocked in House." The New York Times. June 12, 1968. 
  • The Gale Group. "Model Penal Code." West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2008. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Model+Penal+Code
  • "The Gun Control Act of 1968: Title 18, United State Code, Chapter 44." Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 2005. http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/p/atf-p-5300-4.pdf
  • Higbee & Associates. "Restoration of Gun Rights." http://www.recordgone.com/restoration_gun_rights.htm
  • Kakutani, Michiko. "Gun Control and Gun Rights Stay Fighting Words." The New York Times. Oct. 9, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/books/in-gunfight-adam-winkler-traces-the-gun-control-battle.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
  • King, Ryan. "Expanding the Vote: State Felony Disenfranchisement Reform, 1997-2008." The Sentencing Project. September 2008. 
  • Lacey-Bordeaux, Emma. "Loophole Allows for Easier Purchase of High-Powered Weapons." CNN Radio. May 25, 2011. 
  • Liptak, Adam. "Justices Extend Firearm Rights in 5-to-4 Ruling." The New York Times. June 28, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/29scotus.html
  • Luo, Michael. "Answers on Felons and Gun Rights." The New York Times. Nov. 15, 2011. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/answers-on-felons-and-gun-rights/
  • Myer, Kevin R. Senior associate, Renaud Cook Drury Mesaros, PA. Personal correspondence.
  • "National Firearms Act of 1934: Title 26, United State Code, Chapter 53." Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 2005. http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/p/atf-p-5300-4.pdf
  • National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. "State Laws." http://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-laws.aspx
  • The New York Times. "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms." Dec. 26, 2012. http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/bureau_of_alcohol_tobacco_and_firearms/index.html
  • The New York Times. "Gun Control." Dec. 21, 2012. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/g/gun_control/index.html
  • Robinson, Paul and Markus Dubber. "An Introduction to the Model Penal Code." University of Pennsylvania Law School.
  • Schmidt, Michael S. "Obama Tells Senate That It's Time to Confirm A.T.F. Director." The New York Times. Jan. 16, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/obama-urges-senate-to-confirm-todd-jones-as-atf-director.html?_r=0
  • Semonick, George. "U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs." Personal correspondence. Jan. 28, 2013.
  • U.S. Department of Justice. "Office of the Pardon Attorney." http://www.justice.gov/pardon/
  • U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office for the District of Rhode Island. "Firearm Possession Prohibition."
  • U.S. Supreme Court. "District of Columbia et al. v. Heller, Illinois, et al." 554 U.S. 570. 2008. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZS.html
  • U.S. Supreme Court. "Haynes v. United States." 390 U.S. 85. 1968. http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/390/85/
  • U.S. Supreme Court. "McDonald v. City of Chicago." 561 US 3025. 2009. http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf
  • U.S. Supreme Court. "Presser v. Illinois." 116 U.S. 252. 1886. http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/116/252/case.html
  • U.S. Supreme Court. "Small v. United States." 544 U.S. 385. 2005. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-750.ZS.html
  • Williams, Keith. "The Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Federal Gun Law." North Carolina Lawyer's Weekly. May 17, 2004. 
  • Zimring, Franklin. "Firearms and Federal Law: The Gun Control Act of 1968." Journal of Legal Studies. Vol. 4. Page 133. 1975. 
Citation