How to Restore Your Gun Rights in Washington State

To restore gun rights in Washington state, you file a petition in the superior court of a county where a firearm prohibition was entered against you, after completing a three- or five-year crime-free waiting period in the community and meeting several other eligibility conditions. Some serious convictions can never be restored through this process, and even a successful state order does not automatically lift the separate federal prohibition on firearm possession.

Who Can Petition and Who Cannot

Three categories of convictions create a permanent bar. You cannot use the standard restoration process if you were convicted of, or found not guilty by reason of insanity of:

A felony sex offense
A Class A felony
Any felony carrying a maximum sentence of at least 20 years

People in these categories have only two potential paths: a governor’s pardon or a certificate of rehabilitation. Neither is common or easy to obtain.¹

The 20-year rule catches people off guard. Many assume only violent crimes trigger a permanent bar, but some drug trafficking offenses and other non-violent felonies carry maximum sentences long enough to qualify. Check the statutory maximum for your specific conviction before spending money on a petition.

Rights can be lost through convictions, involuntary mental health commitments, civil commitments for treatment of a mental disorder, findings of not guilty by reason of insanity, and certain protection or no-contact orders while those orders remain in effect.² Conviction-based losses and commitment-based losses follow different restoration statutes, covered separately below.

Waiting Period and Eligibility Conditions

If your disqualifying event is not permanently barred, you must satisfy a waiting period before filing. The clock starts only after you are living in the community. Time spent incarcerated does not count.

Five Years or Three

The five-year crime-free period applies to all felony convictions and a specific list of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses: domestic violence, stalking, cyberstalking, harassment, aiming or discharging a firearm, unlawful carrying or handling of a firearm, certain animal cruelty convictions, prior DUI-related offenses, and violations of protection orders or extreme risk protection orders.¹

Domestic violence misdemeanors are in the five-year bucket, not three. The legislature grouped them with the more serious offenses for restoration purposes.

The three-year waiting period applies to any nonfelony crime not on the five-year list. If your disqualifying conviction was a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor that does not appear in the enumerated five-year offenses, three consecutive crime-free years in the community is enough.

Everything Else the Statute Requires

Meeting the waiting period is only part of the eligibility test. You must also satisfy each of the following:

No pending criminal charges. You cannot have any felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor charges pending in any court when you file or at any point during the petition process.
All sentence conditions for the disqualifying conviction completed, including court-ordered treatment. You do not need to have paid off nonrestitution fines and fees. If the sentencing court’s records have been destroyed, the court can waive documentation if you verify or attest to that unavailability.
No prior felony convictions that would count toward an offender score under Washington’s sentencing guidelines, and no out-of-state conviction that would bar firearm possession in the state where it occurred. The prosecuting attorney is responsible for checking this.

That last condition trips up people with criminal histories spanning multiple states. An old felony from another state that bars gun possession there can block your Washington petition even if your Washington conviction otherwise qualifies.¹

Vacating a Conviction Is Not Enough

Washington law states explicitly that vacating a conviction does not change the requirements for restoring firearm rights. Even after a successful vacation, you still need to file a separate restoration petition.³

Restoration After a Mental Health Commitment

If you lost rights due to an involuntary commitment, civil detention, or a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, you use a different statute with its own timeline. You can petition upon discharge after an involuntary commitment or detention. A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity requires waiting at least one year after discharge. File in the court that ordered the commitment (or dismissed charges based on incompetency), or in the superior court of the county where you now live.²

You must prove all of the following by a preponderance of the evidence:

You are no longer required to participate in court-ordered inpatient or outpatient treatment.
You have successfully managed the condition that led to the commitment or detention.
You no longer present a substantial danger to yourself or others.
The symptoms related to the commitment are not reasonably likely to recur.
There is no active extreme risk protection order or weapons surrender order against you.

The standard is harder if the record supports a finding that you engaged in violence and are likely to do so again. In that situation, you must show you are not a danger by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. The burden runs the other way if you were held only under a short-term detention: the state must prove you do not meet the restoration criteria.

Filing the Petition

Since July 2023, the petition must be filed in the superior court of a county that entered one of your firearm prohibitions. If the disqualifying conviction was in King County, you file in King County Superior Court. If prohibitions were entered in more than one county, you can pick any of them.

Washington Courts publishes a standard petition form (WS 900). Attach:

A copy of the original judgment and sentence for the disqualifying conviction
Proof that you completed all sentencing conditions, such as a certificate of discharge or equivalent documentation from the sentencing court
A current criminal history report

If sentencing records have been destroyed or are otherwise unavailable, you can attest to that in the petition and the court can waive the documentation.⁴

After filing, serve a copy of the petition and notice of hearing on the prosecuting attorney in the county where you filed. The prosecutor then reviews your criminal history to verify eligibility, including checking whether any out-of-state conviction disqualifies you.

Court filing fees vary by county but generally run a few hundred dollars. You are not required to have a lawyer, but the process involves eligibility analysis, legal documents, and potentially a contested hearing. Professional help is worth considering if you have a complicated history or convictions in multiple jurisdictions.

The Hearing

If the prosecuting attorney agrees you meet every requirement, the court can grant the petition without a full hearing. If the prosecutor objects, or the court wants more information, it will schedule a hearing where you appear and present evidence.

The court’s focus is whether you have met every statutory requirement: the correct waiting period, completed sentence conditions, no pending charges, no disqualifying prior felonies. The statute is built around these objective criteria rather than a subjective judgment of rehabilitation, but the court still has discretion. Steady employment, community ties, and other signs of a law-abiding life strengthen your case.

The prosecutor can present evidence against restoration. Arrests during the waiting period, even without convictions, will draw questions. Judges notice when petitioners minimize their record.

After the Order Is Entered

When the court grants the petition, it issues an order restoring your right to possess firearms and forwards that order to the Washington State Patrol, which updates its records. The State Patrol maintains the database used for background checks on firearm purchases in Washington, so this step matters.

Keep certified copies of the restoration order. You will need them when purchasing firearms, and they serve as proof if a records discrepancy causes a delay or denial.

Concealed Pistol License

A person convicted of a felony who obtains a state restoration order under RCW 9.41.040 can apply for a concealed pistol license, but the application requires completing a certified firearms safety training program within the previous five years. The background check runs both state and federal databases, which brings the federal question into play.⁵

Why a State Order May Not Clear Federal Law

Federal law independently prohibits firearm possession for anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, anyone subject to certain protective orders, anyone adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, and several other categories.⁶

A Washington court order does not bind the federal government. Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20), a state conviction is not counted for federal firearm purposes if the person has had civil rights restored, but only if that restoration does not expressly prohibit firearm possession.⁷

Washington’s restoration orders under RCW 9.41.041 generally restore possession rights without express limitations, which should satisfy this federal test for most felony convictions. But federal courts and the ATF do not always agree on how to read state restoration orders, and federal unlawful possession carries up to 10 or 15 years in prison depending on the circumstances. If your case has any complexity, talk to a federal firearms attorney before buying a gun on the strength of a state order alone.

A similar exception exists for domestic violence misdemeanors, but the interaction with Washington’s process is particularly tricky, because the federal definition of “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” has its own elements that may not align with Washington’s categories.

Federal Relief Under 18 U.S.C. 925(c)

For decades, Congress blocked funding for the federal program that lets individuals petition the Attorney General for relief from federal firearm disabilities. In March 2025, the Department of Justice announced its intention to revive that process. A proposed rule has been published, and the DOJ estimates roughly one million people will apply in the first year.⁸

The Attorney General can grant relief if the applicant’s record and circumstances show the person is unlikely to endanger public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest. The proposed application requires:

Written consent to obtain records covering employment, medical history, military service, and criminal record
A certificate confirming the date you completed your sentence (for felony applicants)
A current certification from a licensed mental health professional stating you do not pose a danger (for applicants committed to a mental institution)
Two fingerprint cards or an electronic scan
Criminal record checks from every state where you have lived since age 18, or the last 25 years, whichever is shorter
Notification to the chief law enforcement officer in your area, who has 14 days to submit comments

The proposed fee is $20, with waivers available. As of early 2026, the online application is listed as “coming soon” and the final rule has not been published. Denials can be reviewed in federal district court.⁹

Marijuana Use Is Still a Federal Bar

Washington legalized recreational marijuana, but federal law still classifies it as a controlled substance. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to” a controlled substance is prohibited from possessing firearms.⁶

In January 2026, the ATF issued an interim final rule narrowing “unlawful user” to require evidence of regular use over an extended period continuing into the present. Isolated or sporadic use no longer qualifies, and a single positive test, admission, or misdemeanor conviction is no longer sufficient by itself to trigger the prohibition.¹⁰

Even with fully restored state rights, answering the ATF’s Form 4473 question about controlled substance use untruthfully is a federal crime. Regular marijuana use still triggers the federal prohibition. The 2026 rule helps people with a single past incident. It does not legalize firearm ownership for active, regular users.

Fixing Background Check Denials After Restoration

Many people are surprised when their first purchase attempt after restoration produces a delay or denial, because the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System has not been updated with the restoration order.

Challenge a NICS Denial

If you are denied after receiving a restoration order, you can challenge the denial directly with the FBI. The preferred method is an electronic challenge at edo.cjis.gov, where you upload your restoration order and fingerprints. The FBI then verifies your documents with the originating court or agency. Mail challenges to the FBI CJIS Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia are also accepted.¹¹

Get a UPIN to Prevent Repeat Delays

To avoid repeated delays, apply for a Unique Personal Identification Number through the FBI’s Voluntary Appeal File. Once issued, you provide the UPIN on Form 4473 each time you buy a firearm, and the system flags your file as pre-cleared. Apply electronically at edo.cjis.gov or by mail, with a completed application and a set of fingerprints. Providing your Social Security number is not required but is strongly recommended, because it helps prevent misidentification.¹²

These steps take weeks or months. Start the NICS challenge and UPIN application as soon as your restoration order is entered, not on the day you plan to buy a firearm.

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.041 – Unlawful Possession of Firearms – Restoration of Right to Possess
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.047 – Persons Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity and Others – Possession Rights
3
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.94A.640 Vacation of Offenders Record of Conviction
4
Washington Courts. Petition to Restore Firearm Rights RCW 9.41.041, 9.41.047 (01/2024) WS 900
5
Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.070 Concealed Pistol License – Application – Fee
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 Unlawful Acts
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 921 Definitions
8
Regulations.gov. Application for Relief From Disabilities Imposed by Federal Laws With Respect to the Acquisition, Receipt, Transfer, Shipment, Transportation, or Possession of Firearms
9
Department of Justice. Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Under 18 U.S. Code 925(c)
10
Federal Register. Revising Definition of Unlawful User of or Addicted to Controlled Substance
11
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting Reason for and/or Challenging a NICS-Related Denial
12
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Voluntary Appeal File