The Justice Department unveiled a new process Monday for people barred from owning firearms because of past criminal convictions to have their gun rights restored.
The launch of the “Federal Firearm Rights Restoration” application process marks one of Attorney General Todd Blanche’s first actions as the newly minted head of the DOJ and a major victory for Second Amendment advocates, who have long argued that nonviolent felons should have an avenue to regain their right to bear arms.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said in a statement. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
Pardon Attorney Ed Martin said the finalized rule will pave the way for the “unprecedented restoration of firearms rights” to some “30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights.”
“President Trump keeps making history,” Martin proclaimed.
Convicted felons have long been allowed to petition the government to have their gun rights restored, but in 1992, Congress defunded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program tasked with processing applications – effectively barring the federal agency from investigating and approving individual applicants.
The new rule aims to circumvent the issue by establishing a new application system using an online portal.
The DOJ noted it “cannot predict with certainty how many applications it may receive,” but given the defunct status of the prior process and the number of ex-cons without gun rights who sought to purchase a firearm in the last three years, “330,000 is not an unreasonable estimate for the first year of the program.”
Restoration will be granted on a case-by-case basis, according to the DOJ.
The department will weigh each applicant’s record and reputation to determine whether they pose a likely threat to public safety before reinstating their Second Amendment rights.
Ex-cons convicted of violent crimes, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, robbery and terrorism, “will be denied, absent extraordinary circumstances,” according to the DOJ.
Registered sex offenders, illegal immigrants, those with mental-health-related disabilities and drug addicts (except for marijuana users) will also likely see their applications denied.
“Today’s development is an exciting next step in the process of ensuring the civil rights of all Americans are respected while only those proven dangerous to society are disarmed,” the Second Amendment Foundation, a pro-gun group, wrote on X, noting it is still reviewing the final regulation.
Kris Brown, the president of Brady, a group that advocates for tougher gun laws, said her organization was still reviewing the rule but stressed the need for a “robust and thoughtful system that minimizes the risk to public safety.”
“Yet the Trump administration has consistently shown us they have no such discretion, including by restoring gun rights to convicted domestic abusers and violent January 6 insurrectionists, and by tirelessly rolling back broad policies proven to prevent crime and gun violence,” Brown said in a statement.
The restoration portal is the latest move by the Trump administration to ease firearms restrictions. The department also recently opted against challenging a court ruling that struck down regulations on firearm suppressors and certain guns.
With Post wires
