Often not, and two separate laws can bar you at once. California bars owning or possessing a firearm for 10 years after many misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, and with no time limit after a misdemeanor corporal injury conviction under Penal Code section 273.5 entered on or after January 1, 2019. Federal law adds its own ban, which does not expire with time for most people it covers. Because either one alone makes possession illegal, the safe starting assumption after any domestic violence conviction is that you cannot own or possess a firearm until you have confirmed otherwise for your specific conviction.
California’s rule depends on exactly what you were convicted of
Under Penal Code section 29805(a)(1), a misdemeanor conviction under a long list of offenses, including battery, criminal threats, stalking, a protective-order violation, or dissuading a witness, makes it a crime to own, purchase, receive, or possess a firearm within 10 years of the conviction. Subdivision (b) sets a stricter rule for one offense: after a misdemeanor conviction under section 273.5 (corporal injury) entered on or after January 1, 2019, owning, purchasing, receiving, or possessing a firearm at any later time is a crime, with no 10-year limit. A misdemeanor 273.5 conviction entered before 2019 falls under the 10-year rule instead. In other words, the specific code section on your record and its date, not the general label domestic violence, decide which state rule applies.
Section 29805 also says its prohibition may be reduced, eliminated, or conditioned under Penal Code sections 29855 or 29860, but both are narrow, one-time petitions. Section 29855 is limited to certain peace officers whose employment depends on legally possessing a firearm and whose prohibition comes from a conviction under section 273.5, 273.6, or 646.9. Section 29860 covers people convicted of an offense before it was added to section 29805. Both require court findings, including that the person is likely to use a firearm in a safe and lawful manner.
Federal law applies its own test
Separately from California law, 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(9) makes it unlawful for anyone convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to ship, transport, possess, or receive a firearm or ammunition in or affecting interstate commerce. The federal ban has no 10-year clock; apart from the exceptions described below, it does not end with time. Federal law defines the term in two parts. The misdemeanor must have, “as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon.” And it must have been committed by someone in a listed relationship with the victim: a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian; a person who shares a child with the victim; a person who lives or lived with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or is similarly situated; or, for convictions entered on or after June 25, 2022, a person in a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim. The conviction also counts only if the person had a lawyer or knowingly waived one and, where a jury trial was available, was tried by a jury or knowingly waived that right, which a guilty plea can do.
Expungement and other relief
Federal law does not count a conviction that has been expunged or set aside, or for which the person has been pardoned or had civil rights restored, unless that relief expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms (18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(33)(B)(ii)). California’s standard dismissal statute says by its own terms that a dismissal does not permit a person to own or possess a firearm or prevent a conviction under the state firearm-prohibition laws (Penal Code section 1203.4(a)(2)). So a California dismissal does not lift the state ban, and because of that express limit, do not treat it as clearing the federal ban either without advice on your specific record. For how record clearance works more generally, see expungement after a violent crime conviction.
For a dating-relationship conviction only, federal law adds a time-based path. A person with no more than one such conviction who is not otherwise prohibited is not disqualified once 5 years have passed from the later of the conviction or the end of any custody or supervision, as long as there has been no later conviction for another such offense, a misdemeanor involving force or a threatened deadly weapon, or any other offense that disqualifies under section 922(g). That path is not available to a current or former spouse, parent, or guardian, a co-parent, or someone who lives or lived with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian or is similarly situated (18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(33)(C)).
What to actually do
- Identify the exact code section you were convicted under, the relationship involved, and the conviction date; these three facts, not the general phrase domestic violence, decide which ban or bans apply.
- Do not assume a 10-year state clock has run without checking whether the no-time-limit state rule for section 273.5 or the federal ban still applies.
- Do not rely on a dismissal, pardon, or other relief to restore firearm rights without confirming what it actually does under both state and federal law.
- Do not buy, borrow, or hold a firearm to see what a background check shows; under section 29805, purchasing, receiving, or possessing a firearm while prohibited is itself the crime.
If you are unsure whether a past conviction still bars you from owning a firearm, or you are currently charged with unlawful firearm possession, call (800) 755-5174 and go over the exact statute and record involved with the Law Offices of David S. Chesley.