Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 358

524US2

Unit: $U88

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Cite as: 524 U. S. 308 (1998)

313

Opinion of the Court

Dickerson v. New Banner Institute, Inc., 460 U. S. 103, 119–
122 (1983). Congress modiﬁed this aspect of Dickerson by
adopting the following language:

“What constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be
determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdic-
tion in which the proceedings were held. Any convic-
tion which has been expunged, or set aside or for which
a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights re-
stored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes
of this chapter, unless such pardon, expungement, or
restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the
person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive ﬁre-
arms.”

§ 921(a)(20).

The ﬁrst sentence and the ﬁrst clause of the second sentence
deﬁne convictions, pardons, expungements, and restorations
of civil rights by reference to the law of the convicting
jurisdiction. See Beecham v. United States, 511 U. S. 368,
371 (1994).

Aside from the unless clause, the parties agree Massa-
chusetts law has restored petitioner’s civil rights. As for
the unless clause, state law permits him to possess riﬂes
and shotguns but forbids him to possess handguns outside
his home or business. The question presented is whether
the handgun restriction activates the unless clause, making
the convictions count under federal law.

We note these preliminary points. First, Massachusetts
restored petitioner’s civil rights by operation of law rather
than by pardon or the like. This fact makes no difference.
Nothing in the text of § 921(a)(20) requires a case-by-case
decision to restore civil rights to this particular offender.
While the term “pardon” connotes a case-by-case determina-
tion, “restoration of civil rights” does not. Massachusetts
has chosen a broad rule to govern this situation, and federal
law gives effect to its rule. All Courts of Appeals to ad-