Our Services:
Restoring What a Conviction Took Away
A conviction can take more than time. It can take your firearm rights, your job prospects, your housing options, and your standing as a full citizen. We work in both the federal and state systems to restore what was taken, and we have been doing this work for years.
Everything on this page follows from one fact most people learn the hard way: two separate bodies of law can block your firearm rights. State law is one. Federal law is the other. Clearing one does not clear the other.
That is why someone can finish a state restoration, walk to the gun counter, and still hear “denied.”
Each of our services addresses one of those systems. Here is each path, what it restores, and where it stands today.
Federal Services:
Firearm Rights Restoration
Federal Restoration Under § 925(c)
Program status current as of August 19, 2026.
This is the newest path and the biggest news in this field in a generation. On August 17, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the federal firearm rights restoration program under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), the statute that lets a person with a past conviction petition to have their federal firearm rights restored. It is the first working federal process in more than 30 years.
Where it stands today:
- The application is not open yet. DOJ is opening it in stages.
- The first window accepts 5,000 applicants nationwide.
- Once you start, DOJ gives you 30 days to finish.
Read those three together and the roadmap writes itself: the work happens now, before the window opens. Thirty days is not enough time to reconstruct decades-old court records, complete fingerprinting, and gather character references from nothing. It is enough time to file a petition that was built in advance.
That building is what we do. We assemble your records, coordinate fingerprints, develop character references that carry weight, and construct the full case for why your rights should be restored. Because § 925(c) is an individualized review, not automatic and not guaranteed, the strength of that case is the whole game.
The complete timeline, requirements, and disqualifiers are on our Federal Firearm Rights Restoration (§ 925(c)) page.
Presidential Pardon
The Office of the Pardon Attorney (OPA) accepts pardon petitions right now under 28 CFR Part 1, the federal regulation governing how pardon requests are filed and reviewed.
A full pardon of a federal conviction removes the federal firearm disability, the legal bar on possessing firearms, for that conviction.
We prepare and file pardon petitions: the case for rehabilitation, the supporting evidence, the OPA process end to end. A pardon is discretionary, and no one can honestly promise one. What a well-prepared petition does is dramatically improve the odds. The petition is the argument.
Often, presidential pardons are reserved until the final
The complete process and eligibility details are on our Federal Pardons page.
State Firearm Rights Restoration
State restoration restores your rights within your state, but only under state law. In Michigan, for example:
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Purchases through private sales only: You cannot buy from gun shops or FFL dealers.
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Handguns: Without a CPL, you must obtain a License to Purchase (LTP) before any private sale. Handgun transfers must be registered with your local police or sheriff.
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Long guns: As of 2023, private sales of rifles and shotguns also require an LTP, unless you hold a CPL.
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Documentation: Though not always legally required, keeping a bill of sale with full details (names, weapon description, serial number, signatures) is highly recommended to protect both parties.
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Federal limits still apply: Private transfers are only allowed within state lines, and you cannot transfer to prohibited persons.
While state restoration allows you to participate locally—such as hunting or keeping a firearm at home—it does not change your federal status.
What state restoration does not do is touch the federal system. This means a NICS background check (the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System) can still come back as denied, and possessing a firearm while federally prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), the federal statute listing who may not possess one, still carries a risk of federal prosecution.
Two systems. Separate prohibitions. No coordination between them. "Cleared by the state, still denied by the feds" is common, and so is the reverse.
Most of our clients need work in both systems, and the order matters. So before we recommend anything, we identify which restriction is actually blocking you and sequence the path from there. A general criminal defense firm doesn't live in this gap. A document-filing service files what you ask for without asking whether it will work. The diagnosis is the difference.
Barton Morris brings more than 25 years of criminal defense experience, including federal cases in both the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan. He trained at Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyer's College and the National Criminal Defense Trial College, and has been recognized by Super Lawyers and DBusiness Magazine.
We have been restoring firearm rights for Michigan residents for years. The federal program is new. The work is not.
A restoration application isn't a form. It's an argument. Arguments are what we build.
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