Resources to Help You Restore Your Rights
Restoring Rights After a 5150 Hold
Bureau Of Firearms Personal Eligibility Check Application
BCIA Claim of Alleged Inaccuracy or Incompleteness
Form for 1203.4 Dismissal Sample (Expungement)(Make sure you use the correct court-specific documents)
PC 17(b) (Reduction of felony charge) (Make sure to use the correct court-specific documents)
Marijuana and Gun Rights Memo (Feb. 2021)
Record Rehabilitation/Restoration of Rights
Overview of Firearm Restrictions & Rights Restoration
What is a Criminal History Record?
NICS Guide for Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial
What you should do before you call an attorney
Gather every piece of paper concerning the case or event which resulted in the loss of your gun rights. Copies of court documents and letters or bills from the attorney who previously represented you in court are particularly useful. If you lost your gun rights because you were detained for a mental health evaluation aka a "5150", discharge papers and bills from the hospital or mental health facility will assist an attorney in obtaining your medical records. If an attorney asks you to mail documents and papers for review before a consultation, send copies, not the originals which may be needed in future court proceedings. Prepare yourself to be interviewed by the attorney. Expect to be asked for dates, names (for example, the attorney who represented you in court, the hospital or mental health facility where you held) and locations (for example what county and what courthouse was your case filed in?).
Restoring gun rights lost due to a criminal conviction
Many California crimes can be charged either as a felony or as a misdemeanor; this type of offense is often referred to in the California criminal justice system by the slang term "wobbler.” Some examples of "wobblers" include possessing or receiving stolen property, insurance fraud, possession of methamphetamine, second-degree burglary, and many other common crimes. If you were convicted of a "wobbler" as a felony and the sentencing judge did not impose a state prison sentence (including a state prison sentence that was suspended) but instead granted you probation, later you can return to court to ask that your felony conviction be ordered reduced to a misdemeanor for all purposes; subject to a few exceptions, this type of court order will restore your gun rights (unless there is something else in your background which also resulted in the loss of your gun rights).