Justice Department Launches New Process To Restore Federal Gun Rights
Congress has made it impossible for citizens to regain the ability to buy firearms.
More than three decades of legislated inaction on restoring firearms rights to those barred from owning guns is poised to end under a Justice Department rule published Monday.
Citizens who have been unable to purchase or carry a gun because of a marijuana conviction, for example, can seek to have those rights restored — and see their applications processed. Congress has barred the Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from using appropriated funds to handle such requests since 1992, essentially shutting down the process.
Now Attorney General Todd Blanche says his department will handle the applications, potentially challenging lawmakers to enact a similar restriction.
“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,” he said. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
The final rule establishes criteria for applications under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), which allows the attorney general to remove certain federal-firearms disabilities when an applicant is unlikely to act dangerously and relief is not contrary to the public interest. “For more than three decades, the statutory process Congress created under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) was effectively unavailable to most individuals,” the department said.
U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin said his office is preparing to administer the program. “We’ve recently published a rule that delivers on our promise to strengthen and protect the Second Amendment,” Mr. Martin said in a Monday video. “To put that rule into effect, my team in the pardon office is hard at work to ensure that we can create and utilize an application process that balances public safety with the protection of your Second Amendment rights.”
The rule potentially benefits people with old felony convictions and other federal-firearms prohibitions who can demonstrate they no longer pose a public-safety danger. Federal restoration does not eliminate an independent state-law firearms prohibition.
Applicants must establish that the circumstances behind their disability, together with their record and reputation, indicate they are unlikely to act dangerously. The attorney general retains discretion to determine whether relief serves the public interest.
Not everyone will see restored rights under the proposal. Violent felons, registered sex offenders, and some other higher-risk applicants face presumptions against relief, absent extraordinary circumstances. Other categories face time-limited presumptions.
The department may consider an applicant’s criminal history and subsequent conduct. The final rule also modifies the treatment of marijuana, excluding marijuana use and addiction from a drug-related presumption against relief while leaving other relevant conduct subject to review.
Mr. Martin urged prospective applicants to begin preparing. “Soon, we’ll launch an online portal to accept all incoming applications,” he said. “For those of you who are seeking relief, I know you’re anxious to get started, and while you’re waiting, I’d ask you to visit our website and find out more about what you’ll need.”
Gun-violence-prevention advocates have opposed restarting the process without stringent safeguards. Kris Brown, president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, said the group is “closely” studying the proposal. But she ripped recent moves to expand gun rights.
“The restoration of gun rights must involve a robust and thoughtful system that minimizes the risk to public safety,” Ms. Brown said. “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.”
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