The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new federal process that will allow some people currently barred from possessing firearms under federal law to apply to have their gun rights restored, reviving a system that has been largely unavailable for more than three decades. The move marks one of the most significant federal shifts on gun rights in years, reopening a pathway that had been largely closed since the early 1990s. While the administration says the new system will protect public safety by screening out dangerous applicants, critics are expected to argue that restoring firearm rights to formerly prohibited individuals carries significant risks and could test the balance between Second Amendment protections and public safety concerns.
According to the Justice Department, Attorney General Todd Blanche finalized a regulation establishing an application process under a provision of federal law that authorizes the attorney general to grant relief from certain federal firearms disabilities on an individualized basis. The Justice Department said restoration will not be automatic. Applicants will have to demonstrate that they are unlikely to pose a danger to public safety and that restoring their rights would not be contrary to the public interest.
Officials said every application will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account a person's criminal history, reputation and conduct since becoming prohibited from possessing firearms. "We commend the Department of Justice for enacting this final rule and recognizing the government should not permanently disenfranchise citizens of their Second Amendment rights for non-violent offenses," Adam Kraut, Second Amendment Foundation Executive Director, told Newsweek in a statement. "The Second Amendment Foundation has led the way on this critical issue, having a history of filing challenges to these lifetime prohibitions for non-violent felons." Newsweek reached out to the White House and gun rights and safety groups for comment Monday afternoon.
Although Congress created a process for restoring federal firearm rights decades ago, it became effectively dormant after lawmakers began preventing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from using appropriated funds to process applications in the early 1990s. As a result, individuals who lost their firearm rights under federal law generally had no practical federal avenue to seek relief, even though the statute technically remained on the books. The issue was reinforced by the Supreme Court's 2002 decision in United States v.
Bean, which held that courts could not grant relief when ATF had not acted on an application because Congress had barred the agency from processing requests. The Justice Department says its new rule revives the individualized review process contemplated by Congress while shifting responsibility away from ATF and to the attorney general. "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," Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a press release.
"This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration." The department has framed the initiative as a pathway for "deserving Americans" who previously lost their Second Amendment rights. Under the new system, applicants must convince the attorney general that the circumstances that led to the prohibition, combined with their subsequent conduct, show they no longer pose a public safety risk. At the same time, the rule establishes significant barriers for higher-risk applicants.
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