"If you've got $50,000 to spend on legal fees, it's still like pulling teeth to get your name off the list," Marbut said. "If you've got less than $1,000 to spend, you have less than a 10 percent chance of getting your rights back."

The Brady List is controlled by ATF and there is a process for being removed from the list, Marbut said. However, it was never funded by the U.S. Congress, and the Supreme Court has held that the ATF and the FBI do not need to remove people from the list if Congress does not fund that process, Marbut said.

Marbut said he has seen people with a state felony conviction get their names removed from the Brady List in order to purchase a weapon, but the federal agencies have no obligation to remove people from the list.

ATF Denver Field Division Public Information Officer Lisa Meiman said if the state decides to restore gun rights, the federal government recognizes the restoration of rights. If the person was convicted of a federal charge, under current law, they have to seek a presidential pardon to restore their gun rights. Meiman did confirm, however, that the ATF no longer restores gun rights.