CRS In Focus Report – The Department of Justice Proposed Rule to Restore Firearms Rights to “Prohibited Persons.” July 24, 2026, Dave S. Sidhu, Legislative Attorney; Jordan B. Cohen, Analyst in Firearms Policy – The Gun Control Act (GCA) categorically prohibits certain classes of individuals, including individuals convicted of felony offenses, from possessing, receiving, shipping, or transporting a firearm connected with interstate or foreign commerce. The GCA also authorizes these covered individuals to apply to the Attorney General to have their firearms rights restored. In 2025, the Department of Justice issued a proposed rule establishing guidelines for this process to apply for “relief from disabilities.” This In Focus summarizes the proposed rule. Before doing so, it provides an overview of relevant law, including a federal statute that effectively barred the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from enforcing the relief statute, and relevant legal developments, including the delegation of enforcement responsibility of the relief statute to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Additional Sources – “The Justice Department’s pardon attorney was dismissed a day after she refused to recommend that the actor Mel Gibson, a prominent supporter of President Trump’s, should have his gun rights restored, according to the attorney and others familiar with the situation. Elizabeth G. Oyer, the former pardon attorney, described the sequence of events as an alarming departure from longstanding practice, one that put public safety and the department’s integrity at risk. Mr. Gibson had lost his gun rights as a result of a 2011 domestic violence misdemeanor conviction…”

• Good morning, Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, and Members of this Committee. I am here today [July23, 2026] as a public servant, a former Justice Department employee, and a concerned American who cares deeply about the future of our country. I had great hope that Todd Blanche would be an effective leader and a responsible steward of the Department of Justice. But he quickly proved me wrong. Two days after Mr. Blanche was confirmed, he fired me from my position as the Department’s career Pardon Attorney. I declined to rubberstamp a political favor for a friend of the President, and it cost me my job. Mr. Blanche’s office had asked me to recommend restoring the gun ownership rights of a convicted domestic abuser. I raised concerns about public safety. But Mr. Blanche’s staff pressured me to go along anyway. I did not. Domestic violence is the leading type of homicide among women. When a domestic abuser is armed, his victim is five times more likely to be killed. But because this particular domestic abuser had a personal relationship with the President, Mr. Blanche’s staff asked me to set aside my concerns. When I wouldn’t, Mr. Blanche fired me within hours. He then took extraordinary measures to silence me. He sent U.S. Marshals to my home in an effort to prevent me from speaking with Members of Congress…”