Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing a firearm.
In June 2024, the Supreme Court in United States v. Rahimi upheld disarming people under domestic violence restraining orders in an 8-1 ruling.
The Justice Department in March 2025 restored the ATF's process for individuals to apply to have their federal firearm rights restored, a program Congress had defunded since 1992.
An estimated 8% of U.S. adults, roughly 19 million people, have a felony conviction, according to a 2017 study in Demography by Sarah Shannon and colleagues.
Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin launched his new gun rights group in September 2025 to push firearm restoration for nonviolent offenders and drive GOP midterm turnout.