The Wire · CalGunHub

DOJ Final Rule Reopens Federal Firearm Rights Restoration After Three Decades

Published August 17, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

A new Justice Department rule creates the first working 18 U.S.C. 925(c) application process since 1992, run by the Office of the Pardon Attorney instead of ATF.

Written by the CalGunHub desk from public reporting

Who this affects: For Californians, the key limitation is that a federal restoration grant lifts only the federal disability. California imposes its own firearm prohibitions, and a Sacramento-area analysis by the Davis Law Firm notes that state-level relief, such as expungement or a set-aside where available, would be separately required before possession would be permitted under state law. Federal approval alone changes nothing under California statutes. This is general information, not legal advice.

The Justice Department has published a final rule reviving a long-dormant statute that lets people under federal firearms disabilities apply to have those disabilities lifted. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the rule on August 17, 2026; it was signed August 14, published in the Federal Register on August 20 as 91 FR 54054 (RIN 1105-AB78; AG Order No. 7109-2026), and took effect September 21, 2026.

Section 925(c) of Title 18 has technically allowed relief applications for decades, but appropriations riders in place since 1992 barred ATF from spending money to process them, freezing the program in practice. According to the Federal Register notice, the new rule sidesteps that barrier by moving administration of the program from ATF into the Office of the Pardon Attorney while creating a new Part 107 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Relief is discretionary. Applicants must demonstrate they are unlikely to act dangerously and that granting relief would serve the public interest rather than cut against it. The rule sets tiered presumptive disqualifiers: permanent for violent felonies and similar offenses, ten years for drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and misdemeanor domestic violence, and five years for most other felonies. Applications require fingerprints, certified court records, three reference affidavits from non-relatives, and sworn affirmations. Local chief law enforcement officers will be notified of each application, though they hold no veto over the outcome. Notably, the rule's controlled-substance definition excludes marijuana.

The rollout is staged. Invited candidates may apply starting September 25, 2026; the first 5,000 public applications open November 4, 2026; another 500 slots open January 4, 2027, when a $30 fee, waivable for hardship, begins. The department projects about 330,000 filings during the first year, and Pardon Attorney Edward Martin has referenced about 30 million Americans living under federal firearm disabilities.

A grant removes only the federal disability and does not override state-law prohibitions. Denials can carry five-year or permanent bars on reapplying, and denials are reviewable by petition to a U.S. district court under the statute.

Informational only, not legal advice. Facts are attributed to the sources listed above.