31 MILLION AMERICANS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS CAN NOW APPLY TO HAVE THEIR GUN RIGHTS RESTORED-VAST MAJORITY OF COUNTRY SUPPORTS NEW RULE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INVITES AMERICANS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS TO APPLY FOR RESTORATION OF THEIR GUN RIGHTS
MALONE, NEW YORK Aug. 19, 2026
For at least the last 40 years, Americans who have committed any kind of crime—including low-ranking misdemeanors—have had their constitutionally-protected gun rights permanently revoked, for the rest of their lives, by federal law.
No longer, according to new federal regulations legally adopted by the US Attorney General last Friday.
"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,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a news release announcing the action on Monday.
The new regulations are one of Blanche's first official acts as attorney general. He was confirmed by the Senate Aug. 8.
“This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration," Blanche's news release added.
Applications will be vetted by the Office of the US Pardon Attorney. The office will accept applications through a website that will soon be published.
"The launch date of the firearms restoration application, it's just around the corner," Ed Martin, the Pardon Attorney, said in a video accompanying the announcement. "And I'm looking forward to providing relief to many worthy applicants."
Attorney General Pam Bondi first proposed the news rules in March 2025. By law, all public agencies must consider public comment before finalizing a new rule or regulation. The department said it received a total of 12,154 public comments on the proposal.
"The overwhelming majority of public comments received were generally in support of the rule’s objective to establish a process for restoring firearms rights," Blanche said in the Order making the new rules law. Only 1,293, or 9%, were negative, according to the Order.
Positive commentators, the Order revealed, "noted the importance of the constitutional right to bear arms in general; for self-defense; for employment; for hunting; for the enjoyment of other household members; or for other reasons."
While anyone convicted of any felony or misdemeanor can apply, persons convicted of violent crimes are presumptively barred under the new rule.
The list of presumptively disqualifying offenses includes: any crime involving "death of another person," terrorism, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, kidnapping, arson, car-jacking, human trafficking, extortion, domestic violence, stalking, escape, violent racketeering, gang-related offenses and witness tampering.
The gun rights of former offenders convicted of any one of these crimes can still be restored but only in "extraordinary circumstances."
The Justice Department estimates that up to 31 million Americans are eligible to apply.
A $30 fee will be required to submit applications, which is waivable for applicants who can't afford it. (The department originally proposed a $20 fee, but some commentators said it was too low.)
Applicants will also have to submit many other things, including certified copies of court records, fingerprints and affidavits from three people not related to the applicant swearing—among a list of many other things—they would "not pose a danger to public safety or to himself/herself, family members, or intimate partners if permitted to possess a firearm."
Congress made it a federal crime for convicted felons to possess firearms in the Gun Control Act of 1968. The act contained a "safety valve" that allowed reformed criminals to apply for an exemption in title 18, section 925(c) of the US Code.
Then, in 1992, Congress defunded the program without eliminating section 925(c). Former offenders challenged the decision, but the Supreme Court upheld it.
Because section 925(c) was still on the books, and because it gave the Attorney General the authority to administer it, when Pres. Donald J. Trump assumed office for the second time, his first Attorney General, Pam Bondi, revoked the Department of Justice's previous delegation of authority to consider section 925(c) applications to the ATF and re-asserted the Attorney General’s legal authority over the waiver program.
Since Congress only barred ATF from spending money considering section 925(c) waivers, the Attorney General's office was not legally barred from considering them. In order to regulate the application process, Bondi proposed the new rules that Blanche adapted on Monday.
If former criminals were hoping that securing federal restoration of their Second Amendment rights is all they have to do to buy a gun again, they're going to be disappointed by the new rules.
The new regulations explicitly say that even if granted the federal waivers, applicants will still have to have their gun rights restored by the states in which they live before they can buy a gun.
"Such relief shall not extend to disabilities imposed by State law if the applicant is independently subject to any such State-law prohibition."
This means that any former offender wishing to exercise their Second Amendment rights has to apply to both the federal government and the government of whatever state they live in through that state's own restoration process.
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