How to Apply to Restore Gun Rights in Missouri

To restore gun rights in Missouri, you generally have three routes: petition a circuit court to expunge the underlying conviction under Missouri Revised Statutes § 610.140, apply to the Governor for executive clemency through the Missouri Parole Board, or, if your bar comes from a mental health adjudication, file a petition under § 475.375. Which route fits depends on the offense, how long ago you completed your sentence, and whether federal law independently prohibits you from possessing firearms.

Why You Lost the Right, and Which Law Controls

Missouri prohibits firearm possession by anyone convicted of a felony in any state or under federal law. The bar also reaches fugitives, people on felony probation or parole, and anyone adjudicated mentally incompetent. Violating that statute is itself a class C felony, and it becomes a class B felony if the original conviction was for a “dangerous felony” defined in § 556.061.¹

Federal law adds a separate layer. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), you are barred from possessing firearms or ammunition if you were convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, use or are addicted to a controlled substance, have been adjudicated as mentally defective or involuntarily committed, are subject to certain domestic violence protective orders, or were convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.² These federal prohibitions operate independently. Getting your Missouri rights back does not automatically fix a federal problem, though a Missouri expungement or full pardon usually does.

The category of your conviction shapes everything that follows. Missouri’s “dangerous felony” list in § 556.061 includes first-degree assault, first- and second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, kidnapping, armed criminal action, first-degree domestic assault, first-degree arson, forcible rape and sodomy, child molestation, and vehicle hijacking charged as a class A felony, among others.³ Those convictions cannot be expunged and push you toward clemency as the only path.

Path One: Expungement Under § 610.140

For most people, expunging the underlying conviction is the most effective route. When a Missouri court grants an expungement, you are restored to the status you held before the arrest, plea, or conviction. The statute states that the order “shall not limit any of the petitioner’s rights that were restricted as a collateral consequence of such person’s criminal record, and such rights shall be restored upon issuance of the order of expungement.”⁴ Firearm rights are included in that restoration.

Who Can Petition

At the time you file, you must satisfy each of these conditions:

At least three years have passed since you completed all authorized dispositions for the felony, including any probation, parole, or incarceration.
You have not been found guilty of any other felony or misdemeanor during that three-year period, excluding minor traffic violations.
All fines and restitution tied to the conviction are paid.
You have no pending criminal charges.
Your habits and conduct show you are not a threat to public safety.
Granting expungement is consistent with the public welfare and the interests of justice.

Missouri also caps your lifetime expungements at two felony offenses.⁵

Offenses That Cannot Be Expunged

This is where many petitions stop before they start. The following categories are permanently ineligible under § 610.140:

Class A felonies
Dangerous felonies as defined in § 556.061
Offenses requiring sex offender registration
Felonies where death is an element of the offense
Felony assault, felony kidnapping, and any degree of domestic assault
Intoxication-related traffic or boating offenses

The statute also lists dozens of specific code sections that are excluded, including unlawful possession of a firearm under § 571.070 itself.⁴ If your felony is on the exclusion list, executive clemency becomes the remaining option.

What Expungement Does for Federal Firearm Rights

An expungement usually removes the federal bar too. Federal law provides that a conviction that has been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or for which civil rights have been restored is not considered a conviction for federal firearms purposes, unless the order expressly says the person still cannot possess firearms.⁶ Missouri’s statute reinforces this by stating that an expungement order “shall be considered a complete removal of all effects of the expunged conviction” for purposes of 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(B)(ii).⁵

Path Two: A Pardon From the Governor

If your conviction is excluded from expungement, executive clemency is the remaining state-level route. All clemency applications are referred to the Missouri Parole Board, which investigates and makes a recommendation. The Governor makes the final decision and is not bound by the Board’s recommendation.⁷

Two forms of pardon matter here. A full pardon restores all rights of citizenship and removes every disqualification or punitive collateral consequence of the conviction, without conditions. It does not erase the conviction from your record, but it does restore firearm rights. A partial pardon provides limited relief, and “restoration of rights” is listed as an example of what a partial pardon can do, meaning it can be written to target the firearm disability specifically.

Eligibility if You Are Not Incarcerated

Before the Parole Board will process your application, you must:⁷

Be fully discharged from incarceration or supervision.
Be conviction-free for five years (minor traffic excluded), with no pending charges.
Identify the specific punitive collateral consequence you want removed, which here is the firearm prohibition.
Have no prior clemency denial or pending clemency application within the past five years.
Have exhausted all judicial remedies, including expungement, post-conviction relief, appeals, and habeas corpus.

That last requirement matters. The Board expects you to try expungement first. If you skipped it because you believed you were ineligible, be ready to explain why in your materials.

What to Submit and What Happens Next

Non-confined applicants must file the completed clemency application form, copies of all police reports and certified sentencing documents for the qualifying offense, and government-issued identification. An incomplete application is returned unprocessed.⁷ Strong applications go further, adding proof that all fines and restitution are paid, evidence of rehabilitation like educational certificates and employment history, and letters of support.

Once your application is complete, the Probation and Parole office in your area investigates. The investigation covers the original offense, your full criminal history, victim impact information, your conduct since discharge (employment, finances, social stability), and comments from local judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement. If any of those officials are likely to oppose your application, knowing that early lets your materials speak to their concerns.

Effect on Federal Firearm Rights

A full pardon should also lift the federal bar under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), which excludes pardoned convictions from the definition of “conviction” unless the pardon expressly prohibits firearm possession.⁶ Read the language of any pardon you receive carefully. If it carries a firearms restriction, the federal prohibition survives.

Path Three: Mental Health Adjudications Under § 475.375

If your firearm bar traces to being adjudicated mentally incompetent or involuntarily committed, Missouri has a separate court process. Under § 475.375, you may file a petition to remove the disqualification if you are over 18 and no longer suffer from the condition that led to the adjudication or commitment. You must prove by clear and convincing evidence that you are no longer a danger to yourself or others for purposes of firearm possession. Individuals found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect cannot use this process.⁸

Federal Bars That State Relief May Not Reach

Some federal firearms disabilities are independent of any state felony conviction, and state-level restoration cannot touch them.

A misdemeanor domestic violence conviction triggers a lifetime federal firearms ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), even though the offense is a misdemeanor.² The offense qualifies if it involved the use or attempted use of physical force against a current or former spouse, co-parent, cohabitant, or dating partner. A Missouri expungement could remove that federal disability under the § 921(a)(20) exception, but domestic assault at any level is excluded from Missouri’s expungement statute.⁴ Clemency becomes the only realistic path.

Being subject to a qualifying domestic violence protective order also prohibits possession under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). The order must have been issued after a hearing you had notice of and opportunity to participate in, and it must either include a finding that you represent a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner or child, or explicitly prohibit the use of physical force against them.² The bar lasts as long as the order is in effect.

Federal law also prohibits anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance from possessing firearms, regardless of whether the person has ever been convicted of a drug offense, and regardless of whether the substance is legal under state law.²

Finally, 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) technically allows the Attorney General to grant relief from federal firearms disabilities if the applicant’s record and reputation show they will not be dangerous.⁹ In practice, Congress has barred the ATF from spending money to process individual applications since 1992 through annual appropriations riders. The Department of Justice published a proposed rule in 2024–2025 to revive the process, but as of early 2026, individual applications are still not being accepted.

Building a Stronger Petition

Courts and the Parole Board are looking for the same core evidence: that you are a different person than at the time of the offense, and that restoring firearm rights will not create a public safety risk.

Gather your documentation early. Certified copies of sentencing documents, proof that fines and restitution are paid in full, and proof that probation or parole has been completed are the baseline. Without them, your petition stalls before anyone reaches the merits. Certificates from educational or vocational programs completed since your conviction add weight, as does a stable employment history.

Character references matter more than most applicants expect. Letters from employers, community leaders, or religious figures who can speak to your specific behavior over time carry real influence. Generic template letters do not. The strongest references acknowledge your conviction and explain why they trust you now.

If You Are Denied

A denied expungement petition can be refiled. Section § 610.140 does not specify a waiting period for refiling, but submitting the same petition with no change in circumstances is unlikely to produce a different result. If the court denied you because it found you still posed a threat to public safety, use the intervening time to build a stronger record of employment, community involvement, and law-abiding conduct.

A denied clemency application cannot be refiled for five years.⁷ Because clemency is discretionary, a new administration may view the same application differently. Use the waiting period to strengthen your documentation and lengthen your post-conviction track record. An attorney experienced in firearms restoration can help you identify the right pathway, meet each statutory requirement, and avoid filing under the wrong process.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 571.070 – Possession of Firearm Unlawful for Certain Persons
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
3
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 556.061 – Code Definitions
4
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Records
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Code 610.140 – Expungement of Certain Records
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
7
Missouri Department of Corrections. Executive Clemency
8
Justia. Missouri Code 475.375 – Firearms, Petition to Remove Disqualification
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 925 – Exceptions, Relief From Disabilities