The Department of Justice's federal firearm rights restoration program officially takes effect today, September 21, 2026 — the first day in more than three decades that the process written into 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) has actually been available to use. Invited-round applications open September 25, and the first public application window follows November 4, according to the program's dedicated portal at the Justice Department.

Congress wrote § 925(c) into law in 1965 to give prohibited persons a formal path to petition for restoration of their federal firearm rights after demonstrating they are no longer a public safety risk. The mechanism functioned for roughly 25 years, then went dormant after Congress began attaching riders to ATF's annual appropriations that barred the bureau from spending money to process applications. Because the provision was assigned to ATF, the money restriction effectively erased the program without repealing the statute.

The August 20 final rule restores the program by moving administrative authority from ATF to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, which sits outside the scope of the ATF appropriations restriction. The rule creates a new 28 C.F.R. Part 107 establishing the process. NRA-ILA reported on the rule when it was published last month, noting the transfer of authority as the legal mechanism that revives the program.

The standard for relief is individualized: applicants must show they are not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest. Eligibility requires that five or ten years have passed since the underlying conviction, depending on its nature. A grant removes only the federal disability covered by the application — it does not affect any independent state or tribal prohibition that may also apply.

To manage caseload during the initial period, DOJ structured a staged rollout. On September 25, invited candidates — a pre-screened cohort identified by the government — may begin submitting applications. On November 4, a public window opens for the first 5,000 general applicants, with a smaller second public tranche of 500 slots following January 4, 2027, when DOJ also begins collecting the $30 application fee. The fee can be reduced or waived on a showing of indigency.

The Firearm Blog reported that the program's portal at justice.gov/ffrr went live ahead of the effective date with guidance documents and eligibility checklists. Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation have publicly welcomed the program as consistent with the broader trend of restoring gun rights that Congress and courts have recognized since Bruen.

The scope of the demand is unknown. ATF has not published data on how many people had pending applications when the riders first took effect in the early 1990s, and there is no current estimate of how many federally prohibited persons might qualify under the new rule's eligibility criteria. DOJ plans to evaluate the first two application rounds before determining whether to expand annual intake.