Attorney General Todd Blanche finalized a federal regulation Monday that reactivates the process Congress created for eligible individuals to apply for restoration of their Second Amendment rights after conviction. The announcement came in his first major action as confirmed AG — a signal that gun rights are a day-one priority, not an afterthought.
The mechanism has existed for decades. Congress created it under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). But for more than 30 years, the bureaucratic process for actually using it was effectively dead — defunded, blocked, and ignored by administrations that were happy to let the permanent firearms prohibition stand without review. Blanche just turned the lights back on.
“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,” Blanche said. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
The scale is significant. U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin put a number on it: roughly 30 million Americans have lost their Second Amendment rights as a result of federal firearms prohibitions. This program provides a pathway — not a guarantee, but a real avenue — for many of them to make their case for restoration.
“President Trump keeps making history – this time by his unprecedented restoration of firearms rights to millions of Americans” said 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.”
As one of his first actions as Attorney General, @AGToddBlanche 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… pic.twitter.com/U0Mwdk32lQ
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) August 17, 2026
And it is not a blanket amnesty. The regulation is careful and the presumptions are strong in the right direction. Applicants must establish that their record, reputation, and subsequent conduct demonstrate they are not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety. Violent felons, registered sex offenders, and illegal aliens remain presumptively ineligible absent extraordinary circumstances. Relief removes only federal disabilities and does not override state law restrictions.
This is exactly how a constitutional right should be treated. The Second Amendment is as fundamental as the First. A man who served a nonviolent drug sentence fifteen years ago and has lived a law-abiding life since is not the same threat to public safety as a violent offender. Treating them identically — stripping both of a constitutional right forever — is neither just nor constitutionally defensible.
Former AG Pam Bondi set this in motion when she submitted the proposed rule in July 2025: “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. No longer.”
The left spent years arguing that every expansion of gun rights was reckless. This one is rigorous, individualized, and long overdue.
