What Disqualifies You From Owning a Gun in Arizona?

In Arizona, what disqualifies you from owning a gun comes from two overlapping sets of rules: the federal prohibited-person categories in 18 U.S.C. § 922 and Arizona’s “prohibited possessor” categories in A.R.S. § 13-3101. Either one is enough on its own. The disqualifiers include felony convictions, misdemeanor domestic violence convictions, qualifying protective orders, certain mental health findings, unlawful drug use (marijuana counts, even though Arizona legalized it), unlawful immigration status, being on probation or parole, fugitive status, dishonorable discharge, and renunciation of U.S. citizenship. Possessing a firearm when you fall into any of these categories is a crime, and the federal maximum is 15 years in prison.¹

Felony Convictions

A felony conviction is the most common reason someone loses firearm rights in Arizona. The moment a court enters a felony judgment, A.R.S. § 13-904 automatically suspends the right to possess a firearm.² It does not matter whether the felony involved violence, drugs, or a white-collar offense, and it does not matter whether the conviction happened in Arizona, another state, federal court, or tribal court. Federal law reaches the same result through 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which covers any conviction for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison.

Juvenile adjudications count too. If you were adjudicated delinquent for what would have been a felony and have not had your rights restored, you are a prohibited possessor under Arizona law.³

The consequence for possessing anyway is severe. Under A.R.S. § 13-3102, possession of a firearm by a prohibited possessor is a class 4 felony, which carries a presumptive prison term of 2.5 years for a first-time offender.⁴⁵ Federal prosecutors can also bring an independent charge with a 15-year maximum.¹

A separate federal rule also bars anyone under indictment for a felony-level offense from receiving or transporting firearms while the case is pending, though that restriction lifts if the charges are dismissed or you are acquitted.⁶

Domestic Violence Convictions and Protective Orders

Domestic violence triggers firearm disqualification through two separate routes, and both catch people who assume a misdemeanor is minor.

Misdemeanor Convictions

The federal Lautenberg Amendment makes it a crime for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense to possess a firearm or ammunition.⁷ It applies if the offense involved force or the threat of force against a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, cohabitant, or someone in a similarly close relationship. The ban is for life. It only lifts if the conviction is expunged, set aside, or pardoned, and even then only when that relief does not itself bar firearm possession.⁸

Arizona layers on its own rule: anyone on probation for a domestic violence offense as defined in A.R.S. § 13-3601 is a prohibited possessor for the length of that probation.³ The state prohibition may end when probation ends, but the federal Lautenberg ban keeps running. Finishing probation and buying a gun is a common way to walk into a federal charge.

Orders of Protection

If an Arizona court issues an order of protection under A.R.S. § 13-3602 and finds you are a credible threat to the physical safety of the petitioner or another protected person, the court can prohibit you from possessing or buying firearms while the order is in effect. You must transfer any firearms you own to law enforcement within 24 hours of being served.⁹ Not every protective order triggers this. The court must make the credible-threat finding.

Federal law adds a parallel prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8). It applies to a restraining order that was issued after a hearing you had notice of, restrains you from threatening an intimate partner or their child, and either includes a credible-threat finding or explicitly prohibits the use of force.¹⁰ An emergency ex parte order issued without a hearing usually does not trigger the federal ban, though the Arizona restriction may still apply if the court makes the required finding.

Mental Health Findings

Mental health disqualifications turn on formal court proceedings, not on whether you have ever seen a therapist or taken medication. Voluntary treatment for depression, anxiety, or any other condition does not disqualify you from owning a gun under either federal or Arizona law.

Federal law prohibits possession by anyone who has been adjudicated mentally defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution. That means a court or authorized body has formally determined you are a danger to yourself or others, or that you lack the mental capacity to manage your own affairs.¹⁰

Arizona’s version is more specific. You are a prohibited possessor if a court has found you to be a danger to yourself or others, or to have a persistent, acute, or grave disability under a court order issued pursuant to A.R.S. § 36-540.³ Arizona also disqualifies anyone found incompetent to stand trial under Rule 11 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure who has not since been found competent, and anyone found guilty except insane. A guilty-except-insane finding leaves the conviction on your record and keeps you a prohibited possessor indefinitely under state law.

Marijuana and Other Controlled Substances

This is where Arizona gun owners get tripped up. Arizona legalized recreational marijuana in 2020, and dispensaries operate openly. But marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) prohibits any “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing firearms or ammunition.¹⁰ Using marijuana legally under Arizona law still makes you a federally prohibited person.

ATF Form 4473, which you fill out to buy from a licensed dealer, asks directly whether you are an unlawful user of marijuana or another controlled substance and warns that marijuana is illegal federally regardless of state law. Answering “no” while you are a current user is a separate federal crime for lying on the form. If you use marijuana in any form, you cannot legally buy or possess a firearm under federal law. Arizona has no state provision that overrides this.

Probation, Parole, and Other Supervised Release

Arizona’s prohibited possessor definition sweeps in anyone currently serving a term of supervised release. That includes felony probation, domestic violence probation, parole, community supervision, work furlough, and home arrest.³ Anyone currently incarcerated in a correctional or detention facility is also a prohibited possessor. This is broader than the federal rule and means you can be disqualified under state law even when the federal categories don’t apply.

Immigration Status

Both federal and Arizona law prohibit firearm possession by undocumented immigrants and most nonimmigrant visa holders.¹⁰³ Both carve out limited exceptions. A nonimmigrant with a valid hunting license from any U.S. state can possess firearms, as can nonimmigrants entering the country for competitive shooting events or firearms trade shows. Diplomats, designated foreign officials, and anyone with a waiver from the U.S. Attorney General are also exempt.¹¹ Lawful permanent residents with a green card are not nonimmigrant aliens and are not subject to these restrictions.

Fugitive Status, Dishonorable Discharge, and Renounced Citizenship

Three narrower federal categories round out the list. You are prohibited if you are a fugitive from justice, if you received a dishonorable discharge from the U.S. Armed Forces, or if you have formally renounced your U.S. citizenship.¹⁰ Each stands on its own, and each carries the same federal exposure as the other prohibited categories.

Getting Firearm Rights Back

Losing your rights is not always permanent. The path depends on why you lost them.

For a felony conviction, A.R.S. § 13-905 lets you petition to set aside the judgment once you have completed your sentence or probation. If granted, the right to possess a firearm is restored. The waiting period for a certificate of second chance is at least two years after completing the sentence for a class 4, 5, or 6 felony, and at least five years for a class 2 or 3 felony. Some convictions cannot be set aside at all, including offenses classified as dangerous, offenses requiring sex offender registration, offenses with a finding of sexual motivation, and felonies against a child under 15. Even where a set-aside is available, firearm restoration is excluded for anyone convicted of a “serious offense” as defined in A.R.S. § 13-706.¹²

If your disqualification is based on a mental health finding, the process runs through A.R.S. § 13-925. You petition the court that entered the original order, present psychiatric or psychological evidence, and must prove by clear and convincing evidence that you are not dangerous and that restoring your rights would not be contrary to the public interest.¹³

How the Rules Get Enforced at Purchase

When you buy from a licensed dealer, the dealer runs your information through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). NICS searches the National Crime Information Center, the Interstate Identification Index, and the NICS Index, which holds prohibiting records submitted by federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.¹⁴ A match to any disqualifying record denies the sale.

Private sales between individuals who are not licensed dealers are not required to run through NICS under federal law, and Arizona does not require background checks for private sales either.¹⁵ That gap does not create a workaround. Possessing a firearm as a prohibited person is a crime whatever the source of the gun, and selling to someone you know or have reason to believe is a prohibited possessor is itself a crime under both federal and Arizona law.

Arizona has not enacted an extreme risk protection order law (sometimes called a “red flag” law) that would let a court temporarily remove firearms based on evidence of imminent danger. Some other states have; as of 2026, Arizona has not.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
2
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-904 – Suspension of Civil Rights and Occupational Disabilities
3
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3101 – Definitions
4
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3102 – Misconduct Involving Weapons
5
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-702 – First Time Felony Offenders; Sentencing
6
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
7
U.S. Marshals Service. Lautenberg Amendment
8
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence Prohibitions
9
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3602 – Order of Protection
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
11
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Nonimmigrant Aliens Purchasing Firearms and Ammunition in the United States
12
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-905 – Setting Aside Judgment
13
Arizona Legislature. Arizona Revised Statutes 13-925 – Restoration of Right to Possess a Firearm; Mentally Ill Persons; Petition
14
Federal Bureau of Investigation. National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Index
15
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide