I'm in the same boat. If you move to Texas you can have one in your house after ten years. I do.

It may be 5 years actually

Yeah it seems there's way too much trying to give out lifetime punishment for crimes that don't deserve it. It's impossible to get traction to reform that either because a huge amount of people just see them as criminals and don't care. I've got nothing but respect for felons that have turned their life around. All it tells me is they were not lazy and were willing to put in the work to have a good life despite roadblocks in their way. That's a lot more character than I see in a ton of the populace.