New Federal Process Could Allow Some Convicted Felons to Own Firearms
By: J. Thomas Wade
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
August 20, 2026
WASHINGTON After years of debate, the Justice Department finalized a rule Monday that will pave the way for people who’ve been barred from owning firearms because of criminal convictions to apply to have their gun rights reinstated.
This process is not an automatic sure thing and not everyone will qualify but the process launched by newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche is a victory for Second Amendment advocates who have long pushed for nonviolent people with felony convictions to be given a pathway to regain their legal right to own firearms.
Although many could have their firearm rights restored, others who have violent pasts involving high level felonies will more than likely not be considered.
“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 in a statement. The attorney general said the new process will protect “public safety while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
But some people, including law enforcement, say that this could lead to more crime and allow felons to go back to their old ways though there’s no evidence of that.
It’s the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to ease firearms restrictions. The Justice Department moved earlier this year to roll back and modify a slate of gun regulations. Separately, the department recently decided against challenging a court ruling that struck down regulations on firearm suppressors and certain guns.
Federal law has long allowed people who’ve had their gun rights stripped because of felony convictions to petition the government for the ability to own firearms again, but Congress since 1992 has effectively barred the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from processing applications.
The Trump administration’s rule aims to circumvent that by establishing a new application system using an online portal.
The Justice Department says restoration will be granted on a case-by-case basis, weighing a person’s record and reputation to determine whether they pose a likely threat to public safety. Officials say people who have been convicted of violent crimes, registered sex offenders, people living in the country illegally and others whom officials believe pose a danger to society will be denied “absent extraordinary circumstances.”
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