I've been more than a little antsy regarding some kind of pro-gun move out of the Trump administration following his executive order directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to find every rule and law out there that's a violation of the Second Amendment. Sure, I'd personally prefer a page that just said, "All of them," but I'm not sure that's what Trump wanted so much as a line-item list.

Either way, the deadline came and went. Then it was extended...and went again

Then nothing, until Wednesday, when Bondi addressed the fact that there's no longer any real method for people to get their gun rights back.

It's not a bad first start, to be honest, even if it's not what a lot of us wanted. Especially after the whole fiasco with the DOJ still attacking suppressors.

Throughout the gun rights world, there's been mostly silence on the issue. I looked, and most of the gun rights groups are really talking about this. I'm not sure why.

I just know that the one exception is the Gun Owners of America, who issued this press release Wednesday afternoon:

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an Interim Final Rule removing the Attorney General’s delegation of authority to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to process applications for relief from federal firearms disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c). This action follows more than three decades of Congressional funding restrictions that have rendered ATF unable to process individual applications. 

The rule removes outdated regulations and is part of a broader review of firearm-related policies under Executive Order 14206 (Protecting Second Amendment Rights). Upon the interim final rule’s expected publication tomorrow, the DOJ will begin allowing individuals who are not “dangerous to public safety” to use the statute and petition to have their gun rights restored. 

Key Points of the Rule Change: 

• Since 1992, Congress has prohibited ATF from using funds to process gun rights restoration applications, making the statute obsolete. 
• ATF will no longer handle individual firearm disability relief applications under 18 U.S.C. 925(c). DOJ will instead carry out the statute and process petitions for gun rights restoration. 
• The DOJ rule goes into effect immediately upon publication and will simultaneously accept public comments on the rule before issuing a final version.  

Gun Owners of America remains committed to monitoring this process and ensuring that any future policies respect the constitutional rights of all law-abiding citizens. 

Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement: 

“For decades, law-abiding Americans who have had their gun rights unfairly restricted have been left in legal limbo—creating an unconstitutional de facto lifetime gun ban. This bureaucratic failure has denied thousands of individuals their lawful opportunity to restore their rights. The DOJ’s decision to finally withdraw ATF’s authority in this matter is an encouraging sign that this administration is serious about protecting the Second Amendment for all Americans.” 

Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs for Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement: 

"Since its enactment in 1992, Gun Owners of America has fought against the 'Schumer Amendment' which defunded the federal gun rights restoration statute. GOA and thousands of would-be gun owners are grateful to President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi for once again allowing gun owners to petition to have their gun rights restored by the Department of Justice. We hope to see many more infringements repealed as the federal government carries out President Trump's executive order Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” 

As Cam noted on Wednesday, there are plenty of people screaming already about how Bondi intends to put guns back in the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals when there's absolutely no indication of that.

What may well happen, though, is that people who made a mistake and have atoned for it paid the price for it, and kept their noses clean now have a real, viable pathway to getting their right to keep and bear arms restored. That's especially true of non-violent felons.

Let's be real, the guy who does time for tax evasion is usually not the same guy who gets out of prison and starts knocking over liquor stores. There's no reason to keep non-violent felons disarmed for a lifetime.

And they were never meant to remain disarmed.

In 1992, exactly one line in a bill amendment defunded the system intended to give people a way to get their rights restored. While it never happened automatically, the measure--pushed by Sen. Chuck Schumer--made it impossible. I don't mean functionally impossible, either. I mean outright impossible to go through those steps and get your rights restored.

Now, that's corrected.

I'm sure Schumer and company will try to do it all over again, but we see what they're doing this time. We know the ramifications. It won't happen a second time. At least not in the near future.