Overview
- The Justice Department finalized the rule Monday, August 17, and launched a public Federal Firearm Rights Restoration website where eligible people will find instructions and, once the rule takes effect, submit applications.
- Applicants must prove on a case-by-case basis that the facts of their prohibition, their record, reputation, and conduct show they are unlikely to be dangerous and that granting relief would not harm public safety.
- The regulation creates strong presumptive bars against relief for violent felons, registered sex offenders, people in the country illegally, fugitives, those currently serving sentences, and other categories the DOJ says pose ongoing risks.
- The program revives the statutory pathway in 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) that was effectively dormant after Congress barred ATF funding in 1992 by shifting processing to the Office of the Pardon Attorney and preparing for heavy demand with DOJ estimates of roughly 330,000 first-year applicants and the Pardon Office citing about 30 million people affected by federal disabilities.
- Any grant would remove only federal firearm disabilities and would not override separate state or tribal bans, and the move has drawn praise from gun-rights groups and concern from gun-safety advocates over public-safety implications.