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A felony or domestic violence conviction takes your firearm rights for life unless a court gives them back. We handle restoration petitions throughout Washington for a flat fee, and we tell you whether you qualify before you pay anything.
We’ll review your record and tell you where you stand.
When your firearm rights have been revoked in Washington, they are revoked for life unless a court restores them. There is no expiration date, no automatic reinstatement when you finish probation, and no age at which the prohibition lapses. The Superior Court is the only court with jurisdiction to restore your gun rights, and it only acts on a petition somebody files.
Any felony conviction costs you your firearm rights under state law. So do certain misdemeanor convictions — domestic violence offenses, and since 2023, a longer list that includes harassment, cyberstalking, reckless endangerment, and some DUI-related prior offenses. The conviction does not have to be from Washington. An out-of-state conviction that would prohibit possession here prohibits it here, even if you never lost your rights in the state where it happened.
The good news is that restoration is not discretionary. If you meet the statutory requirements, the judge must grant your petition. There is no judicial balancing of your character or your reasons for wanting a firearm. That makes this a different kind of legal problem than a criminal defense case — the entire outcome turns on eligibility and on whether the prosecutor finds a reason to object.
Eligibility is too fact-specific to reduce to a chart — the answer depends on what you were convicted of, when, where, what the sentence required, and what has happened since. But the requirements fall into a predictable set, and most people can tell from this list whether they are close.
• Enough time has passed in the community. Generally five consecutive years for a felony and for misdemeanors involving violent or threatening conduct, three years for other qualifying misdemeanors — without an intervening conviction for a prohibiting offense.
• No charges pending anywhere. In Washington or any other jurisdiction, at the time you file and throughout the case. A new charge mid-petition can stop it.
• Your sentence is complete. Including restitution and any court-ordered treatment on the disqualifying conviction. Non-restitution fines and fees are treated differently.
• The conviction isn’t one of the permanent bars. Restoration is not available for any felony sex offense, any class A felony, or any felony carrying a maximum sentence of twenty years or more.
• No other prohibition applies. Law enforcement has to confirm from the records that nothing else would keep you from passing a background check if your rights were restored.
If you’re unsure where you land, that’s what the free review is for. We look at the actual record rather than guessing from what you remember about the case.
This is the single most common mistake we see. People spend money vacating or expunging a conviction, believe the matter is closed, and then get denied at a gun counter years later.
Two separate proceedings
Washington law states this outright: vacating a conviction does not affect the requirements for restoring the right to possess a firearm. A vacatur cleans up your record for employment and housing purposes. Firearm rights require their own petition and their own court order.
The reverse is also worth knowing. Restoring your firearm rights does not vacate the conviction, and it does not restore your rights under federal law or in any other state — a Washington order operates in Washington. If your disqualifying conviction came from another state, you may need relief there as well before a background check clears.
A denied petition is not always the end, but it costs time and filing fees and it can require waiting before you try again. These are the problems we most often find in a record before filing.
Sealed juvenile convictions — A juvenile record that was expunged and sealed can still appear in the federal background check system. A local check may come back clean while NICS shows the conviction and denies the purchase. The Washington Supreme Court has held that sealed juvenile crimes still count.
Out-of-state convictions — Washington defines “conviction” broadly. Deferred adjudications and withheld dispositions that did not count as convictions in the state where they happened often do count here — which is exactly why the person needs restoration in the first place.
Filing in the wrong county — The petition goes to a superior court in a county that entered the prohibition. For people whose only disqualifying conviction is from out of state, that requirement has created a real jurisdictional problem — one the legislature has been asked to fix.
A prosecutor’s objection — The prosecuting attorney reviews the records and reports to the court. Objections are sometimes wrong, but a judge facing one will usually deny the petition. The work is in anticipating the objection and resolving it before the hearing, not arguing about it after.
Pricing
Restoration is a defined piece of work, not an open-ended case, so it should not be billed by the hour. You get a single number at the start that covers the petition, the filing, and the hearing.
One flat fee, quoted after we confirm you qualify.
The eligibility review comes first and it’s free. We only quote a fee once we’ve looked at the record and know the petition is worth filing — and the quote covers the matter through the hearing, with no hourly billing on top of it.
Payment plans are available.
Common Questions
It depends on the county’s calendar and on whether anything in the record needs cleaning up first. An uncomplicated petition in a county with an open docket can move in a couple of months. A case that needs an old out-of-state disposition tracked down, or restitution resolved, takes longer. We’ll give you a realistic estimate for your county after the review rather than a number that sounds good in an ad.
Our office is in Vancouver and we handle Clark County matters constantly, but restoration petitions get filed wherever the prohibition was entered. We file in any Washington county.
Vancouver · Camas · Washougal · Battle Ground · Ridgefield · Longview · Kelso · Woodland · Stevenson · Goldendale
Clark · Cowlitz · Skamania · Klickitat · Lewis · Thurston · Pierce · King · Snohomish · Spokane · and every other Washington county
We'll review your record, tell you which pathway applies, and give you a straight answer about whether a petition will work.
Yes. Washington law says specifically that vacating a conviction does not affect the requirements for restoring firearm rights. Those are two separate petitions and two separate court orders. Having the conviction vacated is useful for other reasons, but it does not put a gun back in your hands.
Restoration of the right to possess is the necessary first step, but a CPL is a separate application with its own requirements, handled by your local law enforcement agency rather than the court. Some records that permit restoration still create problems at the CPL stage. Ask us about your specific record.
That happens, and it’s usually a records problem rather than a legal one — a sealed juvenile case, a dismissed charge reported as a conviction, or an out-of-state disposition coded incorrectly. The fix is different from a restoration petition. Call and we’ll figure out which problem you actually have.
Yes, and we’ll tell you before you pay us anything. Some records have a date they become eligible, and in that case the useful answer is when to come back. Filing a petition that is going to be denied helps nobody.
Our office is in Vancouver and we handle Clark County matters constantly, but restoration petitions get filed wherever the prohibition was entered. We file in any Washington county.
Vancouver · Camas · Washougal · Battle Ground · Ridgefield · Longview · Kelso · Woodland · Stevenson · Goldendale
Clark · Cowlitz · Skamania · Klickitat · Lewis · Thurston · Pierce · King · Snohomish · Spokane · and every other Washington county
We'll review your record, tell you which pathway applies, and give you a straight answer about whether a petition will work.
