HOPWOOD & SINGHAL PLLCFederal Firearm Rights Restoration
Current Status

Where things stand.

Apply for 925(c) relief on your own. Or hire counsel to help you.

This timeline is based on the current rule.

This rule, like all agency rule-making, is subject to interpretation. Ultimately, federal courts will decide how the rules affect Second Amendment rights.\u00a0

Timeline

  1. Feb 2025
    Executive Order 14206

    Protecting Second Amendment Rights — President Trump directs the Attorney General to review federal firearm regulations.

  2. Mar 20, 2025
    First rule

    DOJ moves 925(c) authority from ATF to the Attorney General (90 Fed. Reg. 13,080).

  3. Mar 31, 2025
    First batch of grants

    The Attorney General issued the first grants of relief to applicants under the first rule.

  4. Jul 22, 2025
    Second interim rule

    DOJ publishes a proposed rule (90 Fed. Reg. 34,394) laying out the application process, presumptive disqualifiers, and waiting periods.

  5. Oct 20, 2025
    Public comment period closed

    The comment window on the proposed rule closed.

  6. Feb 6, 2026
    Second batch of grants

    The Attorney General issued a second batch of grants to individuals who applied under the current rule.

  7. AUGUST 17, 2026 TO PRESENT
    Final rule

    The Office of the Pardon Attorney is currently accepting and processing applications under this rule. 

What's actually happening right now

\u00a0Even before the final rule came into effect, the Department of Justice granted relief to federal offenders in a number of cases, largely for people who first filed federal lawsuits challenging their prohibition, where the government offered the 925(c) application route as an alternative to litigation. As of today, under the final rule, the Office of the Pardon Attorney is accepting and processing applications.\u00a0

Official links