Millions of Felons Could Get Their Gun Rights Back Under This Justice Department Rule

Nonviolent felons could have a pathway to regaining their gun rights due to a new Justice Department proposal.

The agency on Tuesday proposed a rule titled “Application for Relief From Disabilities Imposed by Federal Laws With Respect to the Acquisition, Receipt, Transfer, Shipment, Transportation, or Possession of Firearms” which details a new process for certain individual to regain their federal gun rights. 

This comes after decades under congressional prohibitions preventing the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from processing applications for felons to regain their right to keep and bear arms.

The federal government has begun implementing @AGPamBondi's 2A report.

So far we've seen the @HHSGov delete the Biden-era advisory declaring the Second Amendment a "public health crisis" and today @TheJusticeDept proposed a rule to allow federal restoration of gun rights.👏 https://t.co/uCwdbN9sHG pic.twitter.com/N87MX98JRR

— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) March 19, 2025

This new process would shift the authority to make these decisions from the ATF to the Attorney General. It also sets specific guidelines for evaluating these applications. The objective is to strike a balance between Second Amendment rights and public safety. “The criteria are designed to ensure the fundamental right of the people to keep and bear arms is not unduly infringed,” the document reads.

The rule splits applicants into three categories. These include those who are permanently disqualified, temporarily disqualified, and those who are eligible for regaining their gun rights.

Those who were convicted for crimes like homicide, rape, robbery, or stalking, are considered “presumptively ineligible for relief and therefore denied releif absent extraordinary circumstances.”

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Felons Getting Closer to Having Gun Rights Restoredhttps://t.co/YrnAkudEmp

— Bearing Arms (@BearingArmsCom) July 21, 2025

Other applicants, such as those with older nonviolent felonies or minor drug offenses, can apply after five to ten years, provided they have not been convicted of another crime. The rule empowers the DOJ to “consider all the facts underlying the applicant’s prior offense.”

The Justice Department predicts that about one million people will apply for relief in the first year after the rule is enacted. It affirms that “relief from disabilities will not be granted absent a showing of extraordinary circumstances.”

The rule would only apply to federal prohibitions on gun rights and “does not restore the right to possess a firearm under state law if the applicant is independently subject to any such state-law prohibition.”

The proposal will remain open for public comment until October 20, 2025.

While anti-gunners will likely balk at the new rule, gun rights advocates criticize it for different reasons. Kostas Moros, Director of Legal Research and Education at the Second Amendment Foundation, told Townhall the rule “is a major step forward, and will help millions of nonviolent people finally have their Second Amendment rights restored without needing to file costly individual lawsuits.”

However, he believes the rule still falls short of protecting the right to keep and bear arms. “There are some aspects of the proposed rule that do not go far enough, and some of the procedural requirements are overly burdensome,” he explained. “Hopefully the DOJ considers the feedback it gets during the comment period.”

Kerry Slone, founder of We the Female, expressed similar sentiments. “Although this is a step in the right direction, the limitations that remain under this suggested proposal still violate the second amendment rights of many Americans,” she said. “If the justice system considered them safe enough to release into society, then they are safe enough to exercise ALL of their rights.”

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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