Gun Control

For more than three decades, Washington had a process on the books for restoring federal firearm rights—and almost no functioning way for ordinary Americans to use it.

President Trump’s Justice Department just changed that.

Attorney General Todd Blanche has finalized a new federal rule that creates an individual application process for eligible Americans who are barred from possessing firearms under federal law.

No blanket pardon is hiding in the fine print. Relief is neither automatic nor available on demand to violent criminals.

The change establishes something far more basic: a real path for a person to show that a lifetime federal disability no longer fits the facts of his life.

For decades, millions of Americans were denied their Second Amendment rights with no path to appeal.

In a decision that could have far-reaching implications for firearm carry within federal facilities, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has agreed that constitutional gun rights are still valid in public post offices. It is amazing how many basic constitutional facts have been under attack in recent years from federal agencies, to the point that even this concession is a major victory.

A “Memorandum Opinion for the Attorney General” from August 12 regarding the Application of 18 U.S.C. § 930(a) to Post Offices recognized that congressional legislation, in at least nine statutes, has restricted gun carry at certain designated locations and empowers the Department of Homeland Security to do the same. But the Trump-Blanche DOJ rejected the idea of a blanket ban and expressed deep concern about the constitutional implications of such an interpretation, conceding what the plaintiffs wished. In short, as long as firearm carry is justified by the official definition of lawful purposes, it can happen inside post offices. This is what happens when a presidential administration actually cares about the Bill of Rights.

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) informed Attorney General Todd Blanche Wednesday that under current law, firearms were not banned in post offices under a broad exception covering many who carry concealed.

Federal district courts have issued conflicting rulings, with the Trump administration previously electing to drop an appeal of a district court ruling that found the ban unconstitutional after the Supreme Court’s Wolford decision. In the memo, the OLC advised Blanche that the provisions of 18 USC 930, one of the more commonly used statutes to justify a ban on carrying guns in United States Postal Service (USPS) buildings, contained an exemption that applied to those who lawfully carry firearms for lawful purposes including self-defense self-defense, removing the threat of criminal prosecution for having a gun inside a post office or on USPS property.