At the risk of getting all political...
My stance is simple:
If you are convicted of a crime and you receive a lawful sentance for it - and you fulfill the terms of that sentance - then your rights ought to be restored to you the day that sentence is over.
This nonsense of a crime continuing to haunt someone after they've allegedly repaid their debt to society is bogus. If someone is still a danger to society - why were they released from prison? We ought not be letting dangerous people run around the population, if they're truely dangerous.
If someone gets jail time, or probation, and a fine - as soon as that is paid off - ALL of their rights should be restored, until such a time they do something stupid again (if they do) and wind up back in trouble with the law. This idea that a felony conviction causes you to "loose" some of your rights is fairly new - it was the Gun Control Act of '68 that put in the privision that felons can't have firearms. Before then - a convicted felon could legally own a gun again after his debt was repaid.
Every gun control law since then has sought to squeeze more and more people into the list of those who can't have them.
And there's groups out there pushing to expand the definition of "mental illness", and pushing to get anyone deemed to have mental illness (which could be anything from a case of PTSD for a returning Veteran, to someone completely off their gourde like those recently in the news for getting drilled by PPB).
Making it illegal for felons to own a gun doesn't make you any safer. True criminals don't give a rats patoot about the law (that's why they're felons, right?) - they will obtain whatever they want, and do whatever they want - regardless of what a piece of paper says. It's just one more thing they can get charged with upon arrest, and theoretically should keep them locked away longer.
If someone is a violent criminal, keep them locked away forever. If they're a repeat offender - keep them locked away longer each time. But if they're non violent, they're not a danger to society - there's no reason that their past should haunt them longer than the sentance the judge hands down. If he says 10 years - that's 10 years you can't do certain things, like own a gun, vote, etc. Once that debt is paid - you should be just like any other citizen in the eyes of the law. How private folks deal with you should be up to them (thinking employers here, mostly. No reason a private employer can't discriminate due to criminal conviction).
For the guy who made the comment about child diddlers - lock them away forever. But also keep in mind - it's really damn easy to be accused of something that heinous without it being true. It only takes a ****** off wife, girlfriend, or even a stranger to make an anonymous phone call. Next thing you know, there's going to be a detective, along with DHS social workers showing up on your door step.
Oh, and convicted felons are allowed to have more than just bows - they can legally own black powder firearms and reproductions of guns made before, IIRC 1899. Those guns aren't considered "Firearms" by the BATFE. Last I checked, cap & ball guns and black powder guns will kill you, and game animals, just as dead as a modern high tech auto loader.