Low Level Offenders May See Their Firearm Rights Restored Soon
That’s right. President Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, and the Justice Department are working on restoring the firearm rights of some convicted felons under 925(c).
Under federal law, anyone convicted of a felony, meaning a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, is automatically banned from owning a firearm under section 922(g) of the Gun Control Act.
But, there’s a built-in escape hatch called 925(c).
This subsection allows people to go to the attorney general and request to have their gun right restored. To qualify, they need to prove two things:
- That they’re not likely to act in a way that’s dangerous to the public.
- Granting relief won’t work against public interest.
But, for years, the process was basically shuttered. Congress blocked the funding for the ATF to process those applications because too many “dangerous felons” were getting approved.
But recently, President Trump and the DOJ announced new rules to bring that process back, but with stricter enforcement, and taking the process out of the ATF’s hands and returning it to the DOJ.
So, who can qualify? First, people with non-violent felony convictions, like certain varieties of fraud or low level drug convictions, as long as they’ve remained free of any additional charges for 5 to 10 years after concluding their sentence.
Violent felons, sex offenders, domestic abusers, serious drug traffickers, and anyone with recent criminal convictions are presumed ineligible. Serious extraordinary circumstances would need to be demonstrated to be considered.
But remember, this process only restores a convict’s federal gun rights. Any state laws that may restrict their ownership of a firearm still apply.
There will also be a fee schedule to be made public for the application. Approval will be made on a case-by-case basis after being processed by the Attorney General’s office.
As far as the timelines for when these changes will occur, we expect invitations to apply beginning in 2026. Follow us everywhere for updates, as you know such a hot issue liek this is one we’ll be following very closely.