Federal Firearm Rights
Restoration Attorney
For the first time in over thirty years, there is a working federal process to apply for restoration of your firearm rights under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). Find out whether you qualify, and whether anything in your record will stop you.
A Federal Door That Was Closed
for Decades Is Open Again
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) prohibits certain people from possessing firearms, a framework that traces back to the Gun Control Act of 1968. Federal law has long contained a relief provision at 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), but for most of the last three decades that relief was effectively unreachable, because the federal agency responsible for processing applications had no funding to review them.
That changed on August 20, 2026, when the U.S. Department of Justice published a final rule creating an application process for relief from federal firearm disabilities, codified at 28 CFR 107.1. DOJ calls the program Federal Firearm Rights Restoration, or FFRR, and describes it as the initiative through which the Attorney General can restore federal firearm rights under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). It is administered through the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
This is new. The rule is weeks old, the application portal is opening in phases with hard candidate caps, and there is very little reliable guidance available beyond DOJ's own materials. If you are considering applying, the decisions you make in the next several weeks matter more than they normally would.
What the New DOJ Rule Does
On August 20, 2026, DOJ published a final rule titled "Application for Relief from Disabilities Imposed by Federal Laws With Respect to the Acquisition, Receipt, Transfer, Shipment, Transportation, or Possession of Firearms," codified at 28 CFR 107.1. DOJ's program page is published at justice.gov/ffrr.
In practical terms, the rule does four things:
It makes § 925(c) relief real again. DOJ describes FFRR as the initiative through which the Attorney General can restore federal firearm rights under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). The statute was always on the books. The working process to use it is what is new.
It moves the process to DOJ. The application is handled through the Office of the Pardon Attorney rather than through the agency that historically held this responsibility.
It is entirely online. DOJ accepts no paper applications and no submissions by email. Everything goes through the government's application portal.
It opens in phases with candidate caps. This is covered in the next section, and it is the part most people get wrong.
What the application requires:
- A completed online application. DOJ identifies the form as OMB Form #1123-0017.
- Electronic fingerprints, submitted through a participating USPS location.
- Character references.
- A $30 application fee. DOJ's program page indicates the fee begins with the January 4, 2027 phase, and refers to potential waivers or reductions. Confirm current fee treatment at justice.gov/ffrr before you rely on it.
There is also a separate track for mental health based prohibitions. If your federal prohibition arises under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4), which covers certain mental health adjudications and commitments rather than criminal convictions, DOJ's program includes a distinct sub-track for that relief. It is a different fact pattern, a different evidentiary picture, and it should not be approached with a criminal conviction playbook.
And there is a review process after you file. DOJ states that applicants must respond to restoration specialists and await a decision with next step guidance. Filing is not the end of the work. There are real people reviewing these and asking follow up questions.
When You Can Apply,
and How Many Spots There Are
The application is not simply open to everyone right now. DOJ is opening it in stages, and each stage has its own date and its own candidate count.
September 25, 2026
Invited candidates. Applications opened to the early access group of people who had already contacted the Office of the Pardon Attorney. If you did not previously reach out to that office, this phase is not available to you.
November 4, 2026
Public applications open, first 5,000 candidates. This is the first opening to the general public, and it is capped at the first 5,000 candidates. That is a hard number, not an estimate. Once the cap is reached, that window is full.
January 4, 2027
The public window widens, and the fee begins. DOJ opens the application further to the public for an additional 500 candidates. DOJ's program page indicates this is also when the application fee begins. Availability continues to broaden after this point.
If you intend to apply in the November window, the useful work happens well before November 4, not on it. Confirming whether you are actually eligible, identifying whether anything in your record is a presumptive disqualifier, gathering character references, assembling records, and getting fingerprints submitted through a participating USPS location all take real time, and none of it compresses into the morning the portal opens.
DOJ publishes current phase information at justice.gov/ffrr. Dates and counts are DOJ's, not ours, and DOJ can change them.
Is Federal Restoration the Right
Question for Your Situation?
Not every firearm prohibition is a federal one, and federal relief does not answer every problem. Before you spend money on a federal application, it is worth being certain you are pursuing the right remedy, and worth knowing whether anything in your history is going to stop the application before it starts.
This may be your pathway if:
- You are prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law, including under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
- Your prohibition arises from a conviction, and you have been told there is no state level remedy that clears the federal disability.
- You have already resolved, or are separately pursuing, any state level prohibition, and the federal disability is what remains.
- Your prohibition arises under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4), from a mental health adjudication or commitment rather than a conviction. DOJ's program includes a separate track for this relief, and it is a genuinely different analysis. If this is your situation, say so when you call, because the preparation is not the same.
A different pathway may fit better if:
- Your prohibition arises only under Michigan law. Michigan has its own process, including the set aside procedure under MCL 780.621 and the firearm prohibition under MCL 750.224f, addressed on our Michigan firearm rights restoration page.
- Your prohibition arises from a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33) and 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). That situation has its own analysis and is also addressed on our Michigan restoration page.
- Your immediate problem is a CPL denial, suspension, or revocation, which is a separate matter.
The question that actually decides this: presumptive disqualifiers. DOJ uses the term "presumptive disqualifiers" for categories of applicant history that weigh against restoration. Being permitted to file an application is not the same thing as having an application that can succeed. DOJ's website will tell you the rules. It will not read your record and tell you whether something in it is a presumptive disqualifier, and it will not tell you whether that issue can be addressed before you file or whether it makes the application a waste of your money.
Not every conviction qualifies, and not every applicant will be granted relief. DOJ decides these applications. No attorney can promise an outcome, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does.
Not sure which pathway applies to you, or whether something in your record is a problem? Call 313-434-3900 for a case evaluation.
Call 313-434-3900 →
Why Waiting Is
the Expensive Choice
There is no manufactured urgency here. The urgency is in DOJ's own rollout structure.
The public windows have hard caps. DOJ opens the application to the general public on November 4, 2026, capped at the first 5,000 candidates. The January 4, 2027 phase adds 500 more. These are published counts, not industry estimates.
Preparation cannot be done on the day. Electronic fingerprints must be submitted through a participating USPS location. Character references have to be identified and secured. Records supporting an application have to be located, requested, and received. Determining whether you are eligible at all, and whether anything in your record is a presumptive disqualifier, is analysis, not paperwork. None of that happens in an afternoon.
There is no fallback if the online filing goes wrong. DOJ accepts no paper applications and no email submissions. The portal is the only route.
DOJ has not committed to a timeline. DOJ has given no estimate of how long an investigation takes or when decisions are issued, and after filing you are expected to respond to restoration specialists as they work the file. Every week of delay on your side is added to a review period nobody can predict.
The fee changes. DOJ's program page indicates the application fee begins with the January 4, 2027 phase. Confirm current fee treatment at justice.gov/ffrr, but understand that the phases are not identical in cost.
The Rules Are Free.
The Answer to Your Question Is Not.
Everything on this page about how the FFRR program works is public. DOJ publishes it at justice.gov/ffrr, and you should read it. We are not in the business of charging people for information the government gives away.
What the government's website will not do is look at your record.
It will not tell you whether the conviction on your record is a presumptive disqualifier. It will not tell you whether the November window or the January window is the right one for your circumstances, or whether the § 922(g)(4) mental health track is the one that actually applies to you. It will not tell you which character references will help your file and which will do nothing. It will not tell you that a record you assumed was resolved is going to surface in the investigation, or what to do about it if it does.
Those are the questions that decide whether an application is worth filing, and they are the reason to make one phone call before you spend a filing window finding out the hard way.
That is a fifteen minute conversation, not a guess.
Call 313-434-3900
How We Handle a
Federal Restoration Matter
Jim Makowski has practiced Michigan firearms law for 25 years. He serves as Corporation Counsel for Michigan Gun Owners, Inc. and as legal advisor to Michigan Open Carry, Inc. Every matter is handled personally.
What we provide is not a summary of the DOJ program. It is attorney guided preparation of your specific application, in four steps.
Eligibility analysis, including presumptive disqualifiers
We review the conviction, adjudication, or commitment underlying your prohibition, identify whether the disability is federal, state, or both, determine whether the standard FFRR track or the 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) mental health track applies to you, and assess whether anything in your record is a presumptive disqualifier under DOJ's own framework. If a federal application is not the correct remedy for your situation, or if your record presents a problem you should address first, we tell you that before you spend money on the filing.
Records, character references, and documentation
Federal applications are decided on what is in front of the decision maker. We identify what records your application requires, help you obtain them, advise on selecting and preparing character references, and organize the file so it is complete and internally consistent the first time rather than after a request for more information.
Application preparation and submission
The application is entirely online, and DOJ accepts no paper or email fallback if something is entered incorrectly. We prepare OMB Form #1123-0017, coordinate the electronic fingerprint submission through a participating USPS location, confirm you are filing into the correct phase, and make sure the file is submitted properly and on time for the window you are targeting.
Follow through with DOJ
DOJ states that applicants must respond to restoration specialists and await a decision with next step guidance. There is a real human review process on the government's side, and requests for additional information are part of it. We track your matter, handle those exchanges, and keep you informed rather than leaving you to wonder.
Federal Firearm Rights Restoration:
Common Questions
It depends on your phase. Applications opened to invited candidates on September 25, 2026, limited to people who had already contacted the Office of the Pardon Attorney. If you did not, your first opportunity is November 4, 2026, when DOJ opens applications to the public for the first 5,000 candidates. On January 4, 2027, DOJ opens the application further for an additional 500 candidates, and availability continues to broaden after that. DOJ publishes current phase status at justice.gov/ffrr.
It is DOJ's own term for a category of applicant history that weighs against restoration. Being allowed to file an application is not the same as having an application that can succeed. DOJ does not review your record for you in advance and tell you where you stand, which is precisely why this is the first thing we look at. If something in your history is a presumptive disqualifier, you want to know that before you file, not eight months later.
Possibly, and it is handled differently. The federal prohibition arising from certain mental health adjudications and commitments falls under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4), and DOJ's program includes a separate track for relief tied to that provision. The eligibility analysis, the documentation, and the character reference strategy are not the same as a criminal conviction matter. If this is your situation, tell us when you call so we start in the right place.
DOJ's application fee is $30. DOJ's program page indicates the fee begins with the January 4, 2027 phase, and refers to potential waivers or reductions. Confirm current fee treatment at justice.gov/ffrr rather than relying on any law firm's page, including ours. Attorney fees are separate and are discussed at your consultation.
No. A Michigan set aside under MCL 780.621 is a state proceeding addressing a state conviction. This is a federal application seeking relief under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) from a federal firearm disability. Some people need one, some need the other, and some need to understand how the two interact in their specific situation. That analysis is the first thing we do.
No. DOJ decides these applications, and there is no guarantee of approval. Not every conviction qualifies, eligibility to file is not the same thing as a favorable decision, and DOJ's framework expressly contemplates presumptive disqualifiers. Any attorney who guarantees you an outcome on a brand new federal program is telling you something they cannot know.
DOJ has not published an estimate for how long its investigation takes or when decisions are issued. DOJ does say that after filing, applicants must respond to restoration specialists and await a decision with next step guidance, so expect an active review process rather than a silent queue. Anyone quoting you a specific timeline is guessing.
The application is filed by the applicant, and DOJ does not require representation. The form and the rules are free at justice.gov/ffrr, and you can read them yourself.
What you cannot get from the government's website is an answer about your own record. Specifically: whether anything in your history is a presumptive disqualifier, whether the standard track or the § 922(g)(4) mental health track applies to you, which of DOJ's phases you should actually be filing into, which character references strengthen your file and which are wasted, and what surfaces in the investigation that you have not thought about.
On a program this new, with capped filing windows, an online only portal with no paper fallback, and no published decision timeline, a file that has to be corrected later is an expensive mistake. That is what representation is for here. It is not for reading you the rules.
Find Out Whether Your Record
Can Carry This Application
DOJ's website will tell you the rules. It will not tell you whether something in your record is a presumptive disqualifier, whether the November window is the right one for you, or whether the mental health track applies to your situation instead. Those answers take a conversation.
Makowski Legal Group, PLC. Livonia, Michigan. Michigan firearms law for 25 years.
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