Restoring Your Gun Rights in Vermont: How to Get Firearm Rights Back

Before you do anything else: Vermont and the federal government run two separate systems for firearm rights, and fixing one does not automatically fix the other. Even a Vermont pardon, sealed record, or expunged conviction may leave you a federal felon in possession the moment you touch a gun. Confirm your federal status with a lawyer before you buy, borrow, or possess a firearm.

If you have a past conviction in Vermont and want your firearm rights back, here is the direct answer: Vermont's own firearm ban is narrower than federal law — it applies only to convictions for a "violent crime," not every felony — but the separate federal ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) applies to any felony, violent or not. Vermont's realistic paths to restoring rights are a governor's pardon (which must expressly restore firearms) and, for some records, sealing or expungement. There is no dedicated statute automatically restoring firearm rights after a set number of years. Whether any state-level fix also lifts the federal bar depends on a separate federal test — read on before assuming anything.

Who loses firearm rights in Vermont

Two different bans can apply to the same person, and they don't always overlap:

• Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)): Anyone convicted in any U.S. court of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison — a felony, in plain terms — is federally barred from possessing a firearm or ammunition, regardless of whether the underlying offense was violent.
• Federal domestic violence bar (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), the Lautenberg Amendment): A misdemeanor conviction for a "crime of domestic violence" triggers a federal firearm ban even though it's not a felony.
• Vermont's own state ban (13 V.S.A. § 4017): Vermont bars firearm possession only for a conviction of a "violent crime." That term is defined mainly by cross-reference to the "listed crimes" in 13 V.S.A. § 5301(7) — offenses such as murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnapping, arson causing death, sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, and domestic assault (including at the misdemeanor level) — and it also reaches certain sexual-exploitation and drug-trafficking offenses and comparable out-of-state convictions. The section carves out some listed crimes (for example, reckless endangerment and certain DUI-related offenses) and exempts anyone who is exempt from federal restrictions under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c).

The practical upshot: Vermont's state gun ban is narrower than the federal one. Someone convicted of a non-violent Vermont felony — certain fraud, theft, or drug-possession offenses that are not "violent crimes" under § 4017 — may not be barred under Vermont law at all, yet remains squarely barred federally as a convicted felon. That gap is why the "two locks" framing below matters so much here.

The two locks: why fixing Vermont law doesn't fix federal law

This is the single most important thing to understand. Restoring your rights under Vermont law does not, by itself, lift the federal firearms bar. Federal law only stops treating a conviction as disqualifying if the state relief you received — expungement, set-aside, pardon, or restoration of civil rights — both restores your civil rights and does not expressly preserve a firearms restriction (18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)). That is a federal question, answered by federal courts and federal prosecutors, not by a Vermont court clerk.

Vermont adds its own wrinkle: it never takes away the right to vote — people incarcerated for a felony can even vote — so there may be no "loss and later restoration of civil rights" event for a federal court to point to at all. Some federal courts have held that if a state never revoked a person's civil rights, § 921(a)(20)'s restoration-of-rights exception can't apply the same way it would for someone who lost and regained those rights. The passage of time, or the fact that you can vote, is not a reliable basis for concluding the federal bar is gone. An affirmative act — a pardon that expressly addresses firearms — is much stronger footing, and even that should be confirmed.

There's a second, harder wall if your conviction was federal, not a Vermont state conviction: a state cannot restore rights lost under a federal conviction at all. In Beecham v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that people convicted in federal court must look to federal law, not state pardon or restoration procedures. The federal relief mechanism for this, 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), sat effectively dormant for decades after Congress cut off funding to process applications in 1992. Beginning in 2025, the Department of Justice reclaimed that authority from the ATF, moved the program to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, and issued proposed rules to build a new application process — a channel that is still being stood up and whose final rules, timing, and eligibility are not yet fully settled. Don't assume it's available: confirm its current status directly with the DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney (justice.gov/pardon) or a federal firearms lawyer before relying on it.

How Vermont actually restores firearm rights

Vermont does not offer every restoration tool other states use. The mechanisms that actually exist here are:

• A governor's pardon. Vermont's pardon power rests with the Governor. A pardon does not automatically restore firearm rights — the pardon document should expressly restore them, because a general pardon that is silent on firearms may not clear the state ban, let alone the federal one.
• Sealing or expungement of the underlying conviction. Vermont reworked this system effective July 1, 2025 (Act 60). Sealing is now the primary remedy for most eligible convictions; expungement (which destroys the record) is now largely limited to convictions for conduct that is no longer a crime. Whether a sealed or expunged Vermont record actually lifts Vermont's own § 4017 firearm ban, or satisfies the federal § 921(a)(20) test, is not something you should assume — confirm it with the court and, separately, a lawyer before relying on it to justify possessing a firearm.

Vermont does not appear to have a separate court petition just to restore firearm rights, a stand-alone certificate of rehabilitation, or an automatic restoration statute tied to completing a sentence. If you've heard otherwise, ask for the actual statute — then verify it with the court or the Attorney General's office.

Waiting period and eligibility

There is no single Vermont statute setting a fixed waiting period specifically for firearm-rights restoration. What does exist are waiting periods for the separate sealing process: under the 2025 reforms, many misdemeanors become eligible roughly three years after completing the sentence, many felonies roughly seven years, and DUI-related misdemeanors roughly ten years, subject to conditions such as paid restitution and no disqualifying subsequent record. Pardons have no fixed waiting period; they're entirely at the Governor's discretion and, in recent years, have been granted infrequently. Because these rules can change, confirm the current statute and pardon guidelines before planning around any specific timeline.

Steps to restore your gun rights in Vermont

1. Get your full record. Pull your criminal history and the exact statute of conviction, in Vermont and any other state or federal court. You need the precise offense, not your memory of it.
2. Check whether Vermont's own ban even applies to you. Is your conviction a "violent crime" under 13 V.S.A. § 4017 (mostly the "listed crimes" in § 5301(7))? If not, you may not be barred under Vermont law at all — but the federal felony bar can still apply independently.
3. Choose the remedy that fits: sealing/expungement, or a pardon. Sealing and expungement go through the Vermont courts under Act 60; a pardon is a separate application to the Governor's office. The prosecutor's office is typically notified and can object, and a hearing may follow if there's a dispute.
4. If pursuing a pardon and you want firearm rights back, say so explicitly and ask that the pardon document expressly restore them — a silent pardon may not. Get whatever relief you receive in writing and keep the original.
5. Before you buy, borrow, or possess a firearm, take that written relief to a federal firearms lawyer and ask whether it satisfies 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20); don't possess until confirmed. If your conviction was federal, ask about federal options directly, since Vermont relief cannot reach a federal conviction. Timelines vary, and any court or application fees should be confirmed with the court clerk or the Governor's office rather than assumed.

Permanent or serious exclusions

Vermont's sealing and expungement rules carve out many of the most serious offenses from eligibility, and a pardon for the most serious violent or sexual offenses is granted rarely, if ever. Murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault and other sex offenses, human trafficking, and other "listed crimes" face the steepest barrier to any state-level relief, and some may not be eligible for sealing or expungement at all. No state process — pardon, sealing, or expungement — can restore rights lost because of a federal conviction; only federal relief can do that, and that channel was dormant for decades and is only now, tentatively, being rebuilt. Because carve-outs change with each legislative session, confirm the current exclusion list with the Vermont Judiciary or a Vermont criminal defense lawyer rather than any list found online, including this one.

Practical safeguards

Get any restoration — pardon, sealing order, or expungement order — in writing, and keep it. Before you possess, buy, or help someone else acquire a firearm, confirm the federal effect with a lawyer who actually practices federal firearms law, not just a Vermont criminal defense generalist. Never assume that finishing your sentence, having your record sealed, or being able to vote in Vermont means the federal bar is gone — § 921(a)(20) is a separate federal test, and Vermont's unusual civil-rights posture makes that gap more likely to bite here than in many states. Possessing a firearm while still federally barred is itself a serious federal felony, independent of what your Vermont record now says.

This article is general legal information about Vermont and federal firearms law, not legal advice for your specific situation — confirm current statutes and your individual eligibility with a Vermont lawyer or the relevant state and federal agencies before acting.