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Nearly half of all adults in Arizona have at least one gun in their home.

The right to bear arms is one of America's most prized freedoms. If you've recently been arrested for a DUI offense in Arizona, you may be concerned that a DUI conviction will cause you to lose that right.

While some people who are convicted of DUI offenses in Arizona may lose their gun rights (temporarily or permanently) many will still be able to buy and possess firearms after their convictions. The determining factor is whether you have been charged with a misdemeanor or felony-level DUI offense.

Federal restrictions on purchasing or possessing guns

The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)), prohibits you from buying or possessing a gun if:

• You are a fugitive from justice.
• You are addicted to or are an unlawful user of any controlled substance.
• You have been adjudicated as mentally defective or have been committed to a mental institution.
• You are an illegal alien.
• You have been dishonorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces.
• You have renounced your United States citizenship.
• You are subject to a restraining order to prevent you from harassing, stalking, or threatening your intimate partner or the child of your intimate partner.
• You have also been convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.

The Gun Control Act also prohibits gun ownership if you have been convicted in any court of a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year”. However, this phrase does not mean what it seems to. Federal law (18 U.S.C. 921(a)(20)) also explains that the restriction does not apply if you have a state misdemeanor conviction that is punishable by two years or less.

In other words, if you have a conviction for a state misdemeanor offense that is punishable by more than one year but less than two years of imprisonment — or two years of imprisonment exactly — Federal law does NOT restrict you from buying or possessing a gun, despite the confusing wording of the law.

State restrictions on buying or owning firearms in Arizona

Arizona also has state-level prohibitions on who can possess and buy guns. Arizona law restricts you from owning a gun if:

• You have been determined to constitute a danger to yourself or to others.
• You have a persistent or acute disability or grave disability pursuant to a court order.
• You have been convicted of a felony or, as a juvenile, you were adjudicated delinquent for an offense that would have been a felony if you were an adult.
• You are imprisoned in any correctional or detention facility.
• You are serving probation for a domestic violence conviction or a felony offense.
• You are serving parole, community supervision, work furlough, home arrest, or release on any other basis.
• You are an undocumented alien or a nonimmigrant alien who is traveling in Arizona for business or pleasure, or who is studying in Arizona but has a foreign residence abroad, subject to certain exceptions.
• You have been found incompetent and not subsequently found competent.
• You have been found guilty except insane.

While Arizona’s restrictions are similar to the Gun Control Act, Arizona law adds additional people to the list of “prohibited possessors”, such as people with juvenile felony-level offenses, and people who constitute a danger to themselves or others.

When will lose my gun rights for a DUI conviction?

Some DUI convictions in Arizona will place you in one of the categories listed above, and others will not. Arizona law establishes four different types of DUI offenses—three misdemeanors and one felony.

If you have been charged with one the three Arizona misdemeanor-level DUI offenses and you are not considered a prohibited possessor for some other reason, a misdemeanor DUI conviction should not threaten your ability to buy a gun.

In Arizona, misdemeanor DUIs are classified into three categories —Standard, Extreme, and Super Extreme— that are distinguished by the driver’s Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) at the time of the violation. BAC is determined by calculating the amount of alcohol that is in a certain volume of your blood. When you drink alcoholic beverages, alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream through the walls of your digestive system. As you drink more, the amount of alcohol in your blood rises, making your BAC rise too.

The BAC levels for each type of misdemeanor DUI are as follows:

• A Standard DUI is defined by a BAC that is 0.08% or greater but less than 0.15%.
• An Extreme DUI is defined by a BAC that is 0.15% or greater but less than 0.20%.
• A Super Extreme DUI is defined by a BAC that is 0.20% or greater.

All three types of misdemeanor DUIs are class 1 misdemeanors and are punishable by less than 2 years in jail. Therefore, because they are state misdemeanor offenses that are punishable by less than two years of imprisonment, Arizona misdemeanor DUI offenses will not make you a prohibited possessor under the Gun Control Act. Arizona state law also does not prohibit people with non-domestic-violence misdemeanor convictions from buying or owning guns.

Arizona calls felony DUI offenses Aggravated DUIs. There are five situations where you will be charged with an aggravated DUI instead of a misdemeanor DUI:

• If a child younger than 15 years-old was in the vehicle while you were driving under the influence.
• If you were driving under the influence and you have 2 or more previous DUI convictions in the 7 years preceding your current charge.
• If you were driving under the influence while your driver’s license was revoked or suspended.
• If you were driving under the influence while you had an ignition interlock device on your car due to a prior DUI conviction.
• If you were driving on the wrong side of the highway while you were under the influence.

An Aggravated DUI conviction for having a child in your vehicle at the time of the offense is a class 6 felony, which is punishable by up two years in prison for first-time offenders. The other types of Aggravated DUI offenses are class 4 felonies and are punishable by up to 3.75 years in prison for first-time offenders. Repeat felony offenders face even higher maximum sentences.

Felony DUI convictions could result in a permanent loss of your right to gun ownership in Arizona. State law specifically includes people who have been convicted of felonies as prohibited possessors. Federal law also makes it illegal for people convicted of felony offenses punishable by over a year in prison to own a gun, so even if you leave Arizona, the federal prohibition would still stop you from buying a gun.

While misdemeanor DUI charges will not usually prevent you from owning firearms, felony-level DUI convictions can stop you from buying or possessing a gun, possibly for the rest of your life.

If you've been arrested for a DUI offense in Arizona, an expert criminal defense attorney is essential to making sure a DUI conviction doesn't cause you to lose your 2nd Amendment rights.