New Group Aims to Restore Gun Rights

PHOTO CAPTION: Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, who left the Justice Department last week, launched Firearm Rights for Americans on Sept. 9, 2026. Photo: U.S. Department of Justice

Former U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has launched a new organization aimed at helping Americans with nonviolent criminal convictions navigate the process of restoring their firearm rights.

The group, called Firearm Rights for Americans, was announced Wednesday after Martin left the Justice Department last week. Martin told Reuters that President Donald Trump encouraged the idea during their final Oval Office meeting.

According to Martin, the organization will produce guides explaining federal and state restoration procedures and share written and video accounts from people seeking to regain their firearm rights.

The group will not provide legal advice directly but plans to connect applicants with independent attorneys. Martin said it is funded through donations and is not affiliated with either the Justice Department or firearms manufacturers.

The launch comes just weeks after the Justice Department finalized a new federal process allowing certain people prohibited from possessing firearms to petition the attorney general to have their federal firearm rights restored.

For more than three decades, the process established under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c) had effectively been unavailable to most applicants. DOJ announced the new system on Aug. 17, saying applications would again receive individualized review.

Restoration is not automatic.

DOJ says applicants must demonstrate that their circumstances, record, reputation and conduct show they are unlikely to pose a danger to public safety and that restoring their rights would not be contrary to the public interest.

The department also says violent felons, registered sex offenders and people considered an ongoing danger are generally presumed ineligible absent extraordinary circumstances. Federal restoration also does not override separate state firearm restrictions.

The federal application program is scheduled to begin in stages. DOJ currently says invited applicants will begin applying Sept. 25, while the first 5,000 members of the general public will be able to apply beginning Nov. 4.

Martin's new group is also explicitly political. He told Reuters that part of the effort is intended to mobilize Second Amendment voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections and draw attention to the Trump administration's actions on firearm policy.

Gun-control advocates have opposed the broader restoration policy. Kris Brown, president of Brady, told Reuters that the new federal rule rolls back firearm-safety protections and benefits the gun industry.

Martin's organization does not itself have the authority to restore anyone's firearm rights. Its role will instead be advocacy, education and helping potential applicants understand the federal and state systems available to them.

Sources: Reuters; U.S. Department of Justice.

(Source: Reuters; U.S. Department of Justice.)