DOJ Quietly Approves 22 Individuals In “Beta Test” In February 2026
For more than three decades, Americans seeking to restore their federally prohibited firearm rights faced an absolute brick wall. Under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), a mechanism technically existed allowing individuals to petition for relief from federal firearms disabilities. However, since 1992, Congress successfully killed the program by inserting a mandatory budget rider every year that strictly banned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from using any taxpayer funds to process individual applications. For millions of rehabilitated citizens with decades-old, non-violent offenses, federal law offered no path forward—until a massive administrative shift completely rewrote the playbook.
The turning point arrived when the Department of Justice executed a clever regulatory bypass. Through an Interim Final Rule published under Docket DOJ-OAG-2025-0003, the Attorney General officially withdrew the delegation of authority over § 925(c) from the restriction-bound ATF. By pulling the statutory authority directly back into the Office of the Attorney General and assigning the task to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, the government successfully bypassed the 30-year Congressional defunding roadblock. The program is no longer dead; it has been legally resurrected, modernized, and placed under an entirely new administrative roof.
Understanding the process requires understanding the exceptionally high bar the DOJ has established for applicants. To secure a restoration of rights, the burden of proof rests entirely on the individual to demonstrate that they are completely rehabilitated, that they do not pose a danger to public safety, and that restoring their rights aligns with the public interest. The vetting pipeline involves an extensive background investigation conducted by the FBI and a specialized task force, analyzing everything from an applicant’s post-conviction behavior to their reputation in the community. If approved, the law dictates a final transparency step: the applicant’s name must be formally published as an authorized clearance in the Federal Register.
The baseline criteria to even be considered for this relief are incredibly strict. First, an applicant must have completely satisfied 100% of their sentence, including any probation, parole, supervised release, and court-ordered restitution. Second, the framework establishes a mandatory “clean waiting period” of at least five years after the total completion of a sentence—extending to ten years for more complex offenses—during which the applicant must have absolutely zero legal infractions. Finally, the program is primarily built to address federal disabilities. If an individual is barred due to a state-level felony, they must still successfully navigate their home state’s specific expungement or gubernatorial pardon systems, as a federal 925(c) clearance cannot override independent state-level firearm prohibitions.
Beyond the baseline rules, the DOJ has outlined clear boundaries regarding who will likely face a denial. The framework dictates a heavy presumption against granting relief to individuals with histories of physical violence, sexual offenses, domestic violence, or felony drug trafficking. Overcoming these restrictions requires proving “extraordinary circumstances” of long-term rehabilitation. Furthermore, applicants must document comprehensive proof of community standing, stable employment, tax compliance, and submit exhaustive character affidavits from at least three unrelated references. For those whose disabilities stem from a historical mental health adjudication, a current, comprehensive psychiatric evaluation certifying they pose zero danger to society is mandatory.
The timeline for the roll-out has undergone realistic adjustments due to the sheer volume of anticipated interest. Following the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in July 2025, the DOJ opened a public comment period that closed in late 2025, drawing immense feedback from civil rights organizations, victims’ advocates, and gun-rights groups. While early administrative projections targeted a “Spring 2026” opening for the automated public application portal, the technical hurdles of building a secure, high-capacity system capable of handling an estimated one million applications per year have naturally extended the timeline. Legal experts and policy observers now widely anticipate the publication of the definitive “Final Rule” in the Federal Register by late summer or early fall of 2026. Once that rule is published, a standard 30-to-60-day administrative implementation period will trigger before the interactive portal officially goes live to the general public.
Even though the fully automated portal (justice.gov/ffrr) remains a non-interactive landing page while the tech infrastructure is finalized, the pipeline itself is technically active. The Office of the Pardon Attorney has already begun processing and manually clearing highly vetted, ironclad petitions to stress-test the background system, resulting in the first historic individual notices appearing in the Federal Register. If you or a loved one are planning to utilize this revived pathway, the strategy is simple: do not wait for the website to turn on. Gathering certified indictments, sentencing layouts, formal discharge papers, and character references takes months. Preparing a meticulous physical file now ensures that your petition can be submitted the exact moment the digital floodgates officially open.
These are the 22 people that were approved in February 2026:
Samuel Aaron Baacke
James P. Bailey
William Henry Bashlor
Larry Bolles
Anthony Pashay Brown
David Quittman Burkett
Giovanna Campo
John Sudie Cecil, IV
Charles Cooper
John Kevin Foster
Jacob “Jake” Michael Hoffman
Edward Frank Hucks
James Klos
Jon Steven Lewis
George Manosis
John Mastrangelo
Starlin O. Perry
Fred Rietveld
Nicholas R. Sabatine, III
Gilbert Santana
Charles Edgar VanHorn
Debra Ann Wilson