Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Monday that his office is enacting a new process for felons to have their gun rights restored after they have served their time.
This comes amid a national debate on whether those who have paid their debt to society deserve to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. Blanche explained the reasoning for the new process in a press release.
As one of his first actions as Attorney General, Todd Blanche today finalized a federal regulation and launched a new process allowing eligible individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms to apply for restoration of their federal firearm rights.
“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,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
“President Trump keeps making history - this time by his unprecedented restoration of firearms rights to millions of Americans” said U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin. “Over the past months, we have worked at the direction of Attorney General Todd Blanche to build a program to give a pathway for restoration for the 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights. We are proud to serve and defend our great Second Amendment.”
For more than three decades, the statutory process Congress created under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) was effectively unavailable to most individuals seeking relief from federal firearms disabilities. The final rule restores a functioning process for the individualized consideration Congress authorized and advances President Trump’s directive to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
Can nonviolent felons regain gun rights? In Freeman v. Bondi, a federal judge dismissed most claims but paused one equal-protection issue while Justin Freeman seeks federal firearm-rights restoration.
— Dr. Hill (@drhilllaw42) August 8, 2026
Where should the line be drawn?#SecondAmendment #GunRights pic.twitter.com/5IENDhioEF
The press release explains that felons are not guaranteed to regain their gun rights. “Each applicant must establish to the Attorney General’s satisfaction that the circumstances giving rise to the prohibition, together with the applicant’s record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, demonstrate that the applicant is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest,” the document reads.
The Department will consider the facts and circumstances of each application, while maintaining strong presumptions against relief for individuals whose crimes, conduct, or status demonstrate heightened risks to public safety. Absent extraordinary circumstances, violent felons, registered sex offenders, illegal aliens, and other individuals who present an ongoing danger will remain presumptively ineligible for relief. Any relief granted under the rule removes only applicable federal firearms disabilities and does not override independent restrictions imposed by state law.
Efforts to restore gun rights to felons center on reestablishing a process under federal law that allows the attorney general to remove firearm restrictions for some felons. Under former Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department submitted the proposed rule in July 2025 to create an avenue through which felons can regain their gun rights.
“For too long, countless Americans with criminal histories have been permanently disenfranchised from exercising the right to keep and bear arms—a right every bit as constitutionally enshrined as the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to free exercise of religion—irrespective of whether they actually pose a threat,” Bondi said. “No longer.”