The Trump administration is taking steps to restore gun ownership rights to former convicts, reviving a process that has been dormant for three decades due to congressional funding restrictions.
Key Takeaways
- The Department of Justice plans to establish a new pathway for certain former convicts to regain their gun rights through an interim final rule.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi will assume authority for gun rights restoration from the ATF, which has been unable to process applications since the early 1990s due to funding restrictions.
- The restoration process will consider factors including the nature of past criminal activity and evidence of current law-abiding behavior.
- The initiative is part of President Trump’s executive order to review gun policies and addresses long-standing concerns of gun-rights advocates.
Reviving a Dormant Process
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced plans to create a process for restoring Second Amendment rights to former convicts who meet specific criteria. This initiative comes after decades of congressional inaction that effectively blocked individuals with felony convictions from legally regaining their right to possess firearms. The revival comes through an interim final rule that will transfer authority for gun rights restoration from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to Attorney General Pam Bondi, sidestepping funding restrictions that have hampered the ATF’s ability to process applications since the early 1990s.
Federal law currently prohibits individuals with felony convictions or domestic violence misdemeanor convictions from possessing firearms. While a legal pathway for rights restoration has technically existed under U.S. Code, the congressional funding freeze effectively rendered this option nonexistent for the past three decades. The DOJ’s new approach aims to develop a modern implementation of the statute without what it describes as “the baggage of no-longer-necessary procedures” that were established in another era.
Finally, a pro-gun action from Bondi—taking power back from the ATF to restore gun rights.
But this isn’t full compliance with Trump’s EO. The DOJ is still litigating anti-2A cases, Bondi’s Report is overdue, and ATF funding remains at $4.4M/day.
A good start, but we need more. pic.twitter.com/wqA2MdOauY
— National Association for Gun Rights (@NatlGunRights) March 19, 2025
Criteria and Implementation
According to the DOJ’s proposal, the restoration of gun rights will not be automatic or universally granted. The process will include careful consideration of several factors, including the nature and severity of the applicant’s past criminal activity, the time that has passed since conviction, and evidence of current law-abiding behavior. This targeted approach aims to distinguish between those who may safely regain firearm rights and those who might still pose a public safety risk.
While Attorney General Bondi will assume authority for processing restoration applications, she will not immediately delegate this responsibility to another agency. Instead, the DOJ plans to recommend strategies to Congress for providing the necessary funding to properly implement the program. The interim final rule will take effect immediately but includes a 90-day public comment period, allowing for feedback before final implementation.
Controversy and Political Context
The push for restoring gun rights has not been without controversy. Reports indicate that the administration’s focus on gun rights restoration has already created tension within the DOJ. One notable incident involved the firing of a DOJ pardon attorney over her refusal to recommend actor Mel Gibson for rights restoration.
The initiative represents a significant policy shift that aligns with President Trump’s broader executive orders on gun rights. Gun rights advocates have long pushed for a path to restoration, particularly for non-violent offenders who they argue should not permanently lose constitutional rights. Critics, however, worry that expanding gun access to those with criminal histories could undermine public safety efforts and existing firearms regulations that aim to keep weapons out of potentially dangerous hands.
Legal and Procedural Framework
The DOJ is implementing this change through an interim final rule (IFR), which allows the department to bypass standard notice-and-comment rulemaking procedures. This approach enables the administration to implement the changes immediately while still collecting public feedback during the 90-day comment period.
For those affected by these restrictions, the new process could potentially provide relief after decades of having no viable path to restore their Second Amendment rights. However, practical implementation details, including application procedures, processing timelines, and specific disqualifying factors, remain to be fully established as the DOJ develops its new approach to evaluating restoration applications under Attorney General Bondi’s authority.
