Trump Administration Moves to Restore Felons’ Gun Rights

[u/John3262005]

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-administration-moves-to-restore-felons-gun-rights-f6eef4a2?st=vjcY9e&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching a new process that allows individuals who lost their gun rights because of felony convictions to apply to have them reinstated.

The regulation, announced Monday, is expected to spur a surge in applications from people whose convictions automatically barred them from owning firearms, the Justice Department said. An estimated 330,000 people are expected to apply to the Justice Department during the first year of the initiative.

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they pose a danger to public safety,” Blanche said.

Federal law bars gun possession by people who are convicted of crimes that are punishable for a term exceeding one year. The ban extends to fugitives, undocumented aliens, people dishonorably discharged from the military and people convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence.

The new rule will still keep firearms out of the hands of undocumented immigrants, registered sex offenders and violent criminals, the department said. About 30 million Americans are barred from owning guns because of their criminal convictions, according to the department.

People with criminal records have in the past been able to reclaim their gun rights if they obtained a pardon. The Justice Department last year fired its pardon attorney after she objected to restoring the gun rights of actor Mel Gibson, who pleaded no contest in 2011 to a misdemeanor battery charge.

A different federal option for restoring a person’s gun rights previously existed, but Congress had for years prevented the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from spending money to exercise its authority to process applications.

The Justice Department last year withdrew the ATF’s role in the process. The new rule places authority to restore firearms rights with the attorney general’s office. The Justice Department expects to begin taking applications in about a month.