Gun Owners Are Being Urged to Clear Their Records – Even Without a Conviction

Sometimes the past doesn’t stay in the past.

That’s the warning from Armed Attorneys hosts Emily Taylor and Richard Hayes, who say even non-conviction records can jam up lawful gun owners at the counter, on a carry license, or during a job check.

Their message is blunt: if your state allows it, clean up your record with an expunction.

Even if you were never convicted – or never even charged.

Why Expunction Matters Right Now

Richard Hayes says denials and delays have spiked since Fix NICS pushed agencies to shovel more data into background systems.

Good intent, messy results.

Per Hayes, a lot of what’s getting uploaded are incomplete entries – arrests without dispositions, cases declined by prosecutors, or tickets that were never criminal to begin with.

When NICS reviewers can’t tell how your old case ended, “better safe than sorry” can become “deny.”

Emily Taylor adds that the problem isn’t limited to gun purchases.

In Texas, even License to Carry applications get hung up when DPS goes fishing for more paperwork on decade-old non-convictions.

It’s not disqualifying. It’s just slow, frustrating, and avoidable – if the record is gone.

What An Expunction Does (And Why Texas Calls It “Expunction”)

Most states call it an expungement.

Texas is Texas – it’s an expunction.

Different word, same idea when it’s done right.

Taylor explains that an expunction is literally a lawsuit against the government asking a judge to destroy your records.

When the judge signs the order, agencies that have any piece of your case—police, courts, prosecutors, state repositories – must turn over, delete, or shred what they have.

Hayes says the effect is a true clean slate.

Public access vanishes. And under Texas law, you can legally deny the arrest ever happened.

That last part matters. If a form asks, “Have you ever been arrested?” a granted expunction lets you say “No” – because in the eyes of the law, it didn’t happen.

Not Every State’s “Expungement” Is Equal

Here’s the catch that Hayes stresses: states vary.

Some “expungements” are really just record sealing. That hides information from the public, but government agencies can still see it, which means NICS might still see it, too.

If your state only seals, Taylor suggests looking for a different statutory mechanism that orders destruction rather than concealment.

The goal, in their words, is removal from eligibility databases.

If the record still exists in a government system, you may still have the same problem.

Who Qualifies (According to Emily Taylor and Richard Hayes)

Taylor breaks eligibility into clear buckets, focusing on Texas law but noting similar categories exist elsewhere:

• Acquittals: If a jury found you not guilty, you’re in prime expunction territory.
• Dismissals with the statute of limitations expired: The state missed its window.
• Never formally charged after an arrest: Many states now allow expunction even before the limitation runs, but rules are evolving.
• Class C deferred dispositions (Texas specific): Even though you technically entered a plea, Class C deferred adjudication can still be expunged in Texas.

Hayes is crystal clear on the non-eligible side in Texas:

If you pled, served probation, did deferred adjudication above Class C, or were convicted, you generally don’t qualify for an expunction.

And no, these records don’t “fall off” after a set number of years.

That’s a myth both attorneys say they run into all the time.

Does an Expunction “Restore” Your Gun Rights?

Legally, if you were never convicted or otherwise prohibited, your rights shouldn’t have been lost in the first place.

But Hayes says the reality is messy.

Thanks to the post-Fix NICS data dump, incomplete or ambiguous entries cause practical disability – denials, delays, and investigative letters.

Taylor puts it plainly: expunction shouldn’t be needed to “restore” rights you already have.

But it often is the fastest way to stop the bleeding and get back to normal.

From a compliance perspective, expunction is a belt-and-suspenders fix for a system that sometimes trips over its own shoelaces.

The Prosecutor Problem You Didn’t See Coming

Taylor shares a telling anecdote: after a recent dismissal, a prosecutor warned her, “We’ve got his name in our records now.”

That’s exactly why she pushes expunction.

Hayes admits that when he was a prosecutor, he looked at arrest histories – even dismissed ones – differently than a blank slate.

You’re not supposed to hold non-convictions against someone. But human nature – and institutional habit – often does.

Expunction prevents those improper inferences from ever happening.

How It Works in Practice (Texas Example)

Taylor and Hayes sketch the process:

1. File a civil petition against the agencies that hold your records.
2. Prove eligibility under the statute (in Texas, Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55 / Article 55A).
3. Obtain a court order compelling destruction or return of records.
4. Agencies delete, shred, or surrender their copies.
5. After compliance, you may legally deny the arrest in most contexts.

Taylor even notes that in the DA’s office, interns literally logged in to delete records on expunction orders.

It’s not symbolic. It’s real erasure.

Where Expunction Helps Most (Beyond the Gun Counter)

Purchases are the obvious win.

But Hayes and Taylor list several others:

• Concealed carry / LTC timelines, which DPS can otherwise stall.
• Employment background checks, where a non-conviction ping can cost an offer.
• Future encounters with law enforcement and prosecutors, where old arrests paint an unfair picture.

Prevention beats cleanup every time. Expunction is prevention.

Common Mistakes Gun Owners Make

Assuming charges “drop off.” They don’t, says Taylor.

Confusing sealing with expunction. If the government can still see it, it can still cause problems, Hayes emphasizes.

Waiting until a denial. The smarter move is proactive cleanup – especially if you plan to buy a firearm, apply for a license, or change jobs soon.

DIYing something complicated. Because eligibility turns on statutes, timelines, and dispositions, both attorneys recommend getting local counsel to avoid a denial that sets you back months.

If You Can Erase It, Erase It

This isn’t about hiding a real conviction. It’s about not being punished for what never was.

If your jurisdiction offers true expungement/expunction for acquittals, dismissals, or never-filed arrests, you’re leaving peace of mind on the table by not using it.

And while the attorneys focus on Texas, the logic is national:

NICS, state repositories, and vendor screeners aren’t perfect. When they err, you pay the price – until a court order tells those databases there’s nothing to see.

One more thought: this also protects the next time you need the system to work quickly – like after a defensive incident when timing is everything.

Bottom Line From Emily Taylor and Richard Hayes

• Non-convictions can still hurt you in background checks after Fix NICS.
• In Texas and many states, expunction can destroy those records and let you legally deny the arrest.
• Eligible categories include acquittals, dismissals (typically after limitations), never-charged arrests, and Class C deferred (Texas).
• Not generally eligible: convictions, probation, and most deferred adjudications above Class C.
• This isn’t about “restoring” rights you lost; it’s about removing bad data that wrongly blocks the rights you already have.

Talk to a local attorney who works these cases all the time.

Use the law as written to keep your record – and your rights – clean.

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