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Relief from disabilities functional again!

18 USC 925(c) provides that the Attorney General can grant a person relief from disability (the "dis-ability" to legally possess a firearm under the law). This is especially important to those convicted of a federal offense, since there is no federal procedure to restore firearm rights or to restore civil rights (those lost by a conviction are all governed by state, not federal, law).

Historically, that function had been delegated by the AG to ATF, and from 1992 onward there was a rider put on ATF's budget forbidding it to use appropriated money to grant relief (except to corporations).

But the AG has issued revoking the delegation so that her office will handle the petitions. The budget rider only applies to ATF, and doesn't cover her office.

The language of the order makes it clear there's a new sheriff in town:

"In Executive Order 14206 of February 6, 2025 (Protecting Second Amendment Rights), the President reaffirmed our national commitment to "[t]he Second Amendment [as] an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty," and directed that "[w]ithin 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens." Consistent with this Order and with the Department's own strong support for all constitutional rights, including "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" enshrined in the Second Amendment, the Department has begun that review process in earnest..."