The Trump administration is reviving a long-dormant federal path for some people barred from possessing guns to seek relief. The policy could draw an estimated 330,000 applicants, but applicants must clear a public-safety review and may still face state restrictions.
The Trump administration is moving to restore federal gun rights for people with felony convictions through a new Justice Department application process launched in 2026. Attorney General Todd Blanche says eligible people prohibited from possessing firearms can seek restoration, and the department expects about 330,000 people to apply.
The central caveat is just as important: restoration is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Each applicant will face an individualized review, and even a successful federal application would not erase independent state-law restrictions on gun possession.
A dormant federal route reopens
The Justice Department says Blanche finalized a regulation that puts a working process behind a provision of federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). That law allows people subject to federal firearms disabilities to seek relief under limited circumstances.
For more than three decades, the department says, that avenue was effectively unavailable to most applicants. Congress created the relief mechanism, but annual appropriations restrictions prevented the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from using funds to investigate or act on most applications.
The administration’s move does not change the basic federal rule that generally bars people convicted of crimes punishable by more than a year in prison from possessing firearms. Instead, it creates a process through which some people can ask the federal government to lift the applicable disability after review.
Who can seek restoration
The program is broader in description than the shorthand phrase “felons’ gun rights” suggests. The Justice Department says it is for eligible individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law, a category that can include people barred for reasons other than a felony conviction.
Applicants must show the attorney general that the circumstances behind their prohibition, along with their record, reputation and conduct since then, indicate they are not likely to endanger public safety. They also must show that granting relief would not run against the public interest.
That standard places the burden on the applicant. Completing an application is not the same as being cleared to own or possess a firearm.
- Federal relief is case-specific: The department will evaluate individual facts and circumstances.
- Public safety is the stated test: An applicant must demonstrate that they are not likely to act dangerously.
- No blanket restoration: The final rule says relief is neither automatic nor guaranteed.
High-risk applicants face presumptions
The department says it will maintain strong presumptions against relief where a person’s crime, conduct or legal status points to heightened public-safety risks. In practical terms, that means the policy is designed to distinguish between applicants rather than treat all past convictions alike.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, the department says violent felons, registered sex offenders, people in the country illegally and others presenting an ongoing danger will remain presumptively ineligible. “Presumptively” matters: it signals a powerful barrier, not necessarily an absolute legal impossibility in every case.
Blanche framed the policy as a Second Amendment issue alongside a safety screen. He said the government should not permanently deprive people of a constitutional right without considering whether they pose a danger, while describing the new program as rigorous and commonsense.
That balance will be the policy’s central test. Supporters of restoration can argue that an old conviction should not always impose a lifetime federal ban. Those focused on gun violence and victim safety will scrutinize how the department measures rehabilitation, risk and the consistency of its decisions.
Federal approval has clear limits
A successful application would remove only the federal firearms disability covered by the decision, according to the Justice Department. It does not cancel separate state restrictions, court orders or other legal barriers that may apply to an individual.
That distinction could be consequential for applicants. Gun laws vary sharply by state, and a person who obtains federal relief may still be prohibited from possessing a firearm where they live, because of a state conviction, a state licensing rule, a protective order or another independent restriction.
The announcement also does not mean every person with a felony conviction is federally prohibited in exactly the same way. The details of the offense, sentence, post-conviction legal status and applicable state law can all affect whether a federal disability exists and whether relief is available.
Why the applicant estimate matters
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department expects roughly 330,000 people to apply to reclaim the ability to own firearms. That projection points to a potentially large administrative undertaking, especially because the rule calls for individualized consideration rather than a one-size-fits-all decision.
The department has also described the broader universe of Americans who have lost Second Amendment rights as far larger. But an estimate of people who could apply is not a forecast of approvals. The department has not, in the material released so far, set out how many applications it expects to grant, how long decisions will take or what resources will be assigned to reviewing cases.
Those unanswered operational details will help determine whether the policy becomes a meaningful avenue for eligible applicants or a slow, selective process with lengthy backlogs.
What happens when the rule takes effect
The Justice Department says the final rule takes effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Applicants are being directed to the department’s Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Program site for eligibility information, instructions and access to the application process.
The first cases will reveal how the department applies broad terms such as public interest, dangerousness and extraordinary circumstances. They may also expose how federal reviewers handle old, nonviolent convictions, evidence of rehabilitation and applicants whose state laws impose separate bans.
For now, the administration’s announcement is best understood as the reopening of a narrow federal path, not a mass restoration of gun rights. People considering an application would need to examine both the federal standards and the laws that govern firearm possession in their own state.
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