(The Hill) — The Justice Department (DOJ) plans to create a process for those with criminal convictions to restore their gun rights, sparking alarm it will return firearms to those convicted of violent crimes.
The interim rule, posted in the Federal Register Thursday, follows a February executive order from President Trump directing a review of the country’s gun restrictions to “assess any ongoing infringements.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) has the power to restore gun rights, but the agency has been blocked from doing so under congressional appropriations riders since 1992. Under the DOJ proposal, the attorney general would designate that power within the department.
DOJ said the rule “reflects an appropriate avenue to restore firearm rights to certain individuals who no longer warrant such disability based on a combination of the nature of their past criminal activity and their subsequent and current law-abiding behavior.”
The notice also said that “no constitutional right is limitless” and that they would be “screening out others for whom full restoration of firearm rights would not be appropriate.”
However, groups advocating against gun violence argue the policy would ease the process for those convicted of violent crimes to gain access to a weapon.
“The Trump Administration is throwing out decades of bipartisan precedent and laying the groundwork to put guns back in the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement.
“At a time when violent crime is down, this dangerous development could put law enforcement and our communities at greater risk by opening the floodgates to violent criminals rearming themselves,” he added.
The Justice Department recently moved to restore gun rights to Mel Gibson, who lost his gun rights in connection with a 2011 conviction on misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
One Justice Department attorney was fired after she refused to recommend restoration of his gun rights, with former pardon attorney Liz Oyer saying she felt she could not do so given the risks associated with returning guns to those convicted of violent crimes.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said the rule would create “a unilateral system to give gun rights back to those who are dangerous and high risk.”
“This is a blatant and dangerous power grab by the Trump Administration and a gift to his donors in the gun industry – one that will open new markets for them by putting guns back into the hands of people who should never have them. In no uncertain terms, Trump is paving the way for mass restoration of gun rights without guardrails,” Kris Brown, the president of the group said in a statement.
Gun rights groups celebrated the interim rule, with Gun Owners of America saying it would end the “legal limbo” for those seeking to restore their right to own a weapon.
“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,” Erich Pratt, the group’s senior vice president, said in a statement.
“This bureaucratic failure has denied thousands of individuals their lawful opportunity to restore their rights,” he added.
