Can a Convicted Felon Own a Gun After 10 Years in VA?

No. A convicted felon in Virginia cannot legally own a gun after 10 years based on the passage of time alone. Virginia law never automatically restores firearm rights, no matter how long ago the conviction occurred. The 10-year figure that circulates online comes from a sentencing provision, not a restoration rule: if you illegally possess a firearm and your prior non-violent felony is more than 10 years old, you avoid a two-year mandatory minimum, but you are still committing a new felony. Getting your gun rights back in Virginia requires two affirmative steps: the Governor must first restore your civil rights, and then a circuit court must grant a separate firearm restoration order.

Where the 10-Year Idea Comes From

The confusion traces to the penalty structure in Virginia Code § 18.2-308.2. If a person with a prior non-violent felony is caught possessing a firearm within 10 years of that conviction, the sentence carries a two-year mandatory minimum on top of the base Class 6 felony. If the prior non-violent conviction is older than 10 years, that mandatory minimum floor drops away, but the new crime itself does not.¹

In other words, the 10-year marker changes how harshly you’d be punished for the illegal possession. It does not legalize the possession. Possessing a firearm 20 years after your conviction without going through the restoration process is a felony, just as it would be the day after your release.

What the Felony Firearm Ban Actually Covers

Under § 18.2-308.2, anyone convicted of a felony is barred from knowingly possessing or transporting firearms, ammunition, stun weapons, or explosive materials. The prohibition also covers carrying a concealed weapon. It applies whether the felony conviction came out of a Virginia court, another state’s court, or federal court.¹

Violating the ban is itself a Class 6 felony, with up to five years in prison. The mandatory minimums raise the stakes further:

Prior violent felony at any time: five-year mandatory minimum.
Prior non-violent felony within the past 10 years: two-year mandatory minimum.

These mandatory minimums run consecutively with any other sentence.

You Don’t Have to Be Holding the Gun

Virginia recognizes constructive possession. If a firearm is nearby, and you both know it is there and have the ability to control it, you can be charged. That matters most inside the home. If you live with someone who owns guns and a weapon sits in a shared space, a prosecutor can argue the firearm was in your constructive possession. The Commonwealth has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, but the practical takeaway for anyone with a felony record is to stay away from firearms entirely until rights are formally restored.

Step One: Governor’s Restoration of Civil Rights

Nothing else can happen until the Governor restores your civil rights. A Virginia felony conviction strips the right to vote, serve on a jury, run for office, and become a notary public, along with the right to possess firearms. Under the Virginia Constitution, only the Governor can restore civil rights.²

Here is the point that trips people up: the Governor’s standard civil rights restoration does not restore firearm rights. It returns voting, jury eligibility, and the other civic rights, but firearm rights are explicitly excluded. Civil rights restoration is the prerequisite for the next step, not the end of the road.

There is one narrow executive path that can restore firearm rights directly: a full pardon from the Governor. A pardon that does not restrict firearms can restore those rights, but the Governor may attach conditions, and a pardon that expressly restricts firearms leaves the ban in place. Full pardons are rare and discretionary, so most people use the court petition.

Out-of-state convictions require you to have rights restored under that state’s law first, with no restrictions on firearm type or use. Federal convictions run through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.³

Step Two: Petition the Circuit Court

Once your civil rights have been restored, you can petition a Virginia circuit court for a restoration order authorizing you to possess, transport, and carry firearms, ammunition, and stun weapons. No felon qualifies to petition unless civil rights have already been restored, and there is no statutory waiting period after that restoration before filing.¹

You file in the circuit court of the jurisdiction where you live. If you no longer live in Virginia, you file in the circuit court of the county or city where you were last convicted. A copy of the petition goes to the Commonwealth’s Attorney for that jurisdiction, who may respond and oppose the petition. If either side requests a hearing, the court must hold one. A complete set of your fingerprints must be filed with the clerk before the court can enter a restoration order.

What the Court Weighs

The statute lets the court grant the petition “for good cause shown,” which Virginia courts have read to mean the risk that originally justified taking firearm rights away no longer appears present. Judges typically weigh:

The nature of the original crime, and whether a firearm was involved.
How much time has passed. There is no statutory minimum, but more time strengthens a petition.
Whether you completed your sentence, probation, and any restitution.
Your post-conviction conduct and whether you have lived a law-abiding life since.
Evidence of rehabilitation: employment, education, community involvement, treatment program completion.
Your stated lawful purpose for wanting firearms, such as self-defense or hunting.

Petitions are won or lost on documentation. Employment records, character witness statements, and completion certificates all help. Judges have wide discretion to deny a petition they find unconvincing, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney may actively oppose.

Federal Law Can Still Prohibit You

A Virginia restoration order does not automatically clear federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison is federally barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.⁴ Federal law carves out an exception at 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20): a conviction does not count if it has been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or the person’s civil rights restored. But if the restoration expressly says the person may not possess firearms, the federal ban stays.⁵

The U.S. Supreme Court tightened this further in Caron v. United States, holding that any firearm restriction in a state’s restoration triggers the full federal ban on all firearms, even types the state allows.⁶ Virginia’s statute contemplates this problem and allows a restoration order that “unconditionally authorizes possessing, transporting, or carrying a firearm.” An unconditional order should satisfy the federal exception. Any condition attached to it leaves you federally prohibited.

Violent Felonies Face a Harder Path

The statute draws a sharp line between violent and non-violent felonies. The judicial petition process is technically available to anyone whose civil rights have been restored, but a violent felony conviction, as defined by reference to § 17.1-805, cuts against the “good cause” analysis. The Commonwealth’s Attorney is more likely to oppose, and courts are more skeptical. It is not impossible, but it is a substantially harder case to make. The same statute’s narrow carve-out for antique firearms and small amounts of black powder is also unavailable to anyone convicted of an act of violence under § 19.2-297.1 or a violent felony under § 17.1-805.¹

If your conviction is 10 years or 30 years in the past, the route is the same: get your civil rights restored by the Governor, then petition the circuit court, and make sure any order you receive is unconditional so federal law lines up with it. Until both steps are done, possessing a firearm remains a felony.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-308.2 – Possession or Transportation of Firearms, Firearms Ammunition, Stun Weapons, Explosives or Concealed Weapons by Convicted Felons; Penalties; Petition for Restoration Order; When Issued
2
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Restoration of Rights
3
Virginia State Police. Restoration of Firearm Rights
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 – Definitions
6
Legal Information Institute. Caron v. United States