New Second Amendment Program Launched, but Process Remains Controversial
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Meanwhile, more courtroom developments happened on Tuesday in the world of Second Amendment litigation after U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, struck down an ATF rule that required unassembled ghost guns and ghost gun kits to be legally treated as firearms. The move came after the Supreme Court upheld the rule in Bondi v. VanDerStok in March last year.
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The HillBiden-era ‘ghost guns’ restrictions ruled unconstitutional A federal judge in Texas ruled on Monday that a Biden administration-era rule regulating untraceable “ghost guns” is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor held that the 2022 measure, which required that self-assembled guns be treated as any other firearm, conflicts with the nation’s “historical tradition” of personal gunsmithing and self-manufacture of firearms. “The Court…
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U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin said the new program provides a pathway for approximately 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights. “President Trump keeps making history — this time by his unprecedented restoration of firearms rights to millions of Americans,” Martin said. “Over the past months, we have worked at the direction of Attorney General Todd Blanche to build a program to give a pathway for restoration for the 30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights.”
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Washington ExaminerU.S. Pardon Attorney Edward Martin said the rule could create a pathway for the “30 million Americans who have lost their Second Amendment rights,” calling it an “unprecedented restoration of firearms rights.”
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been unable to process such applications since 1992, when Congress prohibited the agency from using appropriated funds for that purpose. Congress authorized the attorney general to restore firearm rights under Section 925(c). The new Justice Department program establishes a separate process through which eligible individuals can apply for relief.
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Washington ExaminerAttorney General Todd Blanche finalized the Federal Firearm Rights Restoration rule on Monday, reviving a statutory process that has been effectively dormant since Congress defunded the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives application-review program in 1992.
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“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. “This rule establishes a rigorous, commonsense process that protects the public while giving deserving Americans a real path to restoration.”
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Washington Examiner“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 in announcing the rule.
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The new process is not automatic, and it will not immediately put guns in the hands of people with criminal records. Applicants must persuade the Justice Department that their record, reputation, and conduct since the disqualifying event show they are not likely to endanger public safety and that relief would serve the public interest.
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The Daily WireThe rule does not automatically restore firearm rights to anyone currently prohibited from possessing a gun. Instead, applicants will have to demonstrate to the attorney general’s satisfaction that the circumstances leading to their firearm prohibition, combined with their record, reputation, and subsequent conduct, show they will not act in a manner dangerous to public safety. The Justice Department will review applications individually and maintain strong presumptions against granting relief to people considered to pose heightened risks to public safety.
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What’s happening? On Tuesday, the administration filed a proposal to repeal the “roadless rule,” a 2001 regulation protecting nearly 45 million acres of national forests not just from having roads built through them, but from logging.
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The Guardian USThe Trump administration said on Tuesday it plans to rescind the “roadless rule” that has protected old growth forests in the US for 25 years, potentially opening up almost 45m acres of national forests to road construction, drilling and logging.
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The Trump administration said the move would remove obstacles to managing forests and fighting wildfires.
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VoxWhy is the Trump administration doing this? According to the Agriculture Department, the change is intended to reduce the “regulatory burden” and return decisions about forest management to a more local level; the US Forest Service and some Republican governors in affected states have pointed to fire management concerns and the need to clear out accumulated fuel in forests.
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Gun rights groups are celebrating a federal ruling that lifts restrictions on the purchase of silencers, used to lessen the sound of gunshots, and certain firearms.
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Washington TimesGun-rights groups involved in obtaining a limited injunction against part of the National Firearms Act pertaining to sales taxes on silencers and certain guns are using the court ruling to drive a broader membership recruitment effort.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Washington Examiner Who can apply for restoration? The program is broader than a pathway only for people convicted of nonviolent felonies. Federal law allows people prohibited from possessing firearms under several categories to apply, including felons, fugitives, unlawful drug users, people with certain mental-health-related disabilities, some noncitizens, people dishonorably discharged from the military, people who renounced U.S. citizenship, and people subject to certain domestic violence restrictions.
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02 The Guardian US Conservationists had feared the announcement was coming since last summer after Brooke Rollins, Trump’s secretary of agriculture, targeted a rule brought in by Bill Clinton’s administration, describing it as “overly restrictive” and an “absurd obstacle” to development.
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03 NPR News Judge James Wesley Hendrix out of the Northern District of Texas invalidated key components of the nearly 100-year-old National Firearms Act (NFA) in more than a dozen states.
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04 Washington Times Groups including Gun Owners of America and the Texas State Rifle Association, which is affiliated with the NRA, did not waste any time reaching out to potential members by soliciting them to pay a fee to join.
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05 Vox This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
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06 The Daily Wire Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching a new federal process that could give as many as 30 million Americans a pathway to regain their Second Amendment rights, reviving a mechanism that has been effectively unavailable for more than three decades.
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Sources (7)
- dailywire
- npr
- thehill
- guardian
- washexaminer
- vox
- washtimes