Apologies, I retract the statement, about shouting it was incorrect. I was wrong to post it before I did further research.
Do you have a citation for automatic restoral for pardons or expungements at the state level? Everything I found showed that the federal ban superseded the state restoration. That is you could be OK at the state level and still a prohibited person at the federal level.
Other misdemeanors have temporary, definite losses of rights, where you can count the days until automatically you have done your time and can again exercise your rights without further legal work (getting a pardon etc). This one has a permanent restriction unless the underlying conviction is removed. That is the difference. If you are pardoned, expunged or vacated, it is as if you were never convicted. With other misdemeanor convictions you do not need that step to regain your rights. They are restored simply by the passage of time with no further offenses.
Simple answer that would solve all of this. Any domestic violence that fits the Lautenberg definition is a federal (violent) felony.
