Everything is a felony now. I swear the Feds and the States are eventually going to make a speeding ticket a felony.
It's sad, too. Under the provisions of the Federal gun control laws, a felon can't ever possess a firearm. Period. No exceptions. And, if that's not bad enough, in 1995 they added "domestic violence" misdemeanors. You are screwed for life.
There is a provision for the Feds to grant a limited exception for hunting on your own land, or something like that. But, there haven't been any funds appropriated for those "waivers" in several years, so there just aren't any "waivers".
The only possible way to get out of this is to secure a pardon from the governor of your State or hire a lawyer and go back to the original court and have the convicition set aside and overturned. The first option takes a politically connected law firm and (usually) an outgoing governor that is paying back political favors, and the second is likely to be practically impossible.
We need to change this law, folks. The only crimes that should disqualify someone from firearms ownership should be violent felonies that involved a firearm. Nothing else. I even have some problem with that. Why is it when you are released from your sentence, and you've paid your debt, do you loose a constitutionally secured right? Gun ownership isn't a mere priviledge. It should be tough to loose it.