§ 925(c) Presumptive Disqualifiers, Explained
The DOJ published exactly who faces denial absent extraordinary circumstances. Here is the plain-English version.
A presumptive disqualifier means your application will be denied unless you can show extraordinary circumstances. The DOJ’s final rule defines five categories. Some are permanent; some expire with time; some depend on your status today. And one common worry — marijuana use — is expressly excluded.
1. Current-Status Disqualifiers (fixable by changing your status)
You face presumptive denial if, today, you are: awaiting sentencing; incarcerated or serving any part of a sentence; in a diversion program; a fugitive; an unlawful user of controlled substances (marijuana-only use excluded); in the U.S. unlawfully or on a nonimmigrant visa; under a restraining order for harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or their child; or required to register as a sex offender for a firearm-prohibiting offense.
A special rule applies to mental-health prohibitions: if your state has a relief-from-disability program you are eligible for, the DOJ expects you to use it first.
2. Permanent Disqualifiers (no waiting period cures these)
A felony conviction — ever — involving any of the following: death of another person; rape or sexual abuse; human trafficking; kidnapping; intimate-partner or domestic violence; burglary, robbery, extortion, carjacking, or arson; violent racketeering; gang offenses; maiming, assault, or battery; stalking; escape; terrorism; witness tampering; or brandishing or discharging a firearm or using an explosive. Attempts, solicitation, conspiracy, and aiding-and-abetting count.
3. 10-Year Disqualifiers
Conviction of — or serving any part of a sentence for — these within the last 10 years: drug-trafficking felonies (manufacturing, selling, distributing, importing, exporting); felonies involving threats of violence; explosives offenses; certain firearm and ammunition offenses; weapons on school property; animal-abuse felonies; or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
4. 5-Year Disqualifiers
Any other felony, or misdemeanor assault, battery, stalking, or threatened violence, within the last 5 years — again counting time served, not just conviction date.
5. Reapplication Bars
A prior denial based on a permanent disqualifier blocks reapplication permanently. Other denials generally impose a 5-year wait.
Three Details That Catch People
- The disclosure rule. You must disclose every disqualifier — including convictions that were expunged, pardoned, or set aside. Omitting a “cleared” conviction is not a shortcut; it is a denial.
- “Serving any part of a sentence” restarts the clock. The 5- and 10-year windows run from the end of your sentence — including probation and supervision — not from the conviction date.
- Nolo pleas count as convictions. So do certain military judgments and findings of guilt without formal judgment.
Whether your specific record lands inside or outside these categories is precisely the analysis worth doing before the window opens — not after.
Find Out Where You Stand
Every case is different, and relief is never guaranteed. What we do is prepare and file the strongest application your record supports — and tell you honestly what your state’s law still requires, because federal relief alone may not finish the job.
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Program status as of August 18, 2026. Source: justice.gov/ffrr. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Not legal advice.