[ExI] Do Ex-felons get back their constitutional rights after paying their debt to society?

[Gary Miller]

In an interesting twist on the recent supreme court ruling.  
 
"Twice convicted of felonies, James Francis Barton Jr. faces charges of violating a federal law barring felons from owning guns after police found seven pistols, three shotguns and five rifles at his home south of Pittsburgh.
 
As a defense, Barton and several other defendants in federal gun cases argue that last month's Supreme Court ruling allows them to keep loaded handguns at home for self-defense."

 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25753541/
 
If owning guns for self-defense is a true constitutional right then how can we logically prohibit ex-felons from owning them without saying we are suspending their constitutional rights permanently after they have already paid their debt to society?
 
I'm not trying to stir up the gun hornet's nest again but this raises a broader question of whether ex-felons after paying their debt to society are guaranteed the same constitutional rights as everyone else.
 
Ironically is this going to put the NRA on the same side in court as the ex-felons?
 
 
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