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In 1999... when I was 19... I was convicted of a class 4 felony for possession of a firearm without a FOID and a class 3 felony for possession of cannabis. The arrests took place at different times, but the cases were combined and I was sentenced at the same time to 3 years in IDOC. I have not had any convictions since then (aside from a LOT of speeding tickets) I have attained both a bachelors and a masters degree and currently work in the Nuclear Industry. In order to obtain my current position I have had to (aside from disclosing my entire criminal history) get cleared by both the FBI and the NRC (for unescorted access to US Nuclear facilities) and I also undergo fairly extensive psychological testing every three years. So the US Government feels I am safe to be around the critical systems that run reactors. In fact, my job is to protect them. At this point, I have decided to try and get my gun rights restored. I applied for a FOID and disclosed I am a felon, fully expecting to get denied & since I have a weapons conviction I am ineligible to appeal to the ISP and must file a petition in circuit court. So far, I have spoken to three different attorneys that advertise their expertise in 2nd Amendment issues and gotten 2 different answers.One told me it was fully possible and that he charged $5000, but he would not travel to Central Illinois for the case. The next one told me after some court cases last year, ISP was arguing that Illinois restoring a person's rights did not remove the federal ban and as such, none of these cases were getting through. He told me $7500 and he would file for executive clemency with the governor's office. The last one told me he charged $3500 and that he successfully argued 2 of these cases in January, stating that when a person who is sent to prison finishes parole, they get their right to vote and hold public office back... which constitutes a "restoration of civil rights" and thus removes the federal restriction. He stated the only people not eligible are those convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery and who are not incarcerated. However, he is also in Chicago and unwilling to travel to take my case.I don't mind throwing some money at this if I have a shot, but I don't want to throw $7500 at it and wait years on a process that currently has a 97% denial rate. I have another meeting with a more local attorney on Monday, I am curious if anyone here has had success or personally knows of anyone having success in a case like this? I of course, will keep this post updated with any developments but I expect this to be a long process.