A new Justice Department process could give thousands of Texans with old federal firearms disabilities a path to restoration—but federal relief does not erase a conviction, override Texas law, or automatically restore every firearm right.
By Texas Gun Rights Foundation
For more than three decades, federal law contained a pathway for Americans to seek restoration of their firearm rights that, for practical purposes, they could not use.
That is now changing.
On August 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice published a final rule establishing a new federal firearm-rights restoration process for individuals prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law who seek relief under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). The rule takes effect September 21, 2026, with DOJ planning a staged rollout of applications beginning shortly afterward.
For Texans with old convictions—particularly old, nonviolent felony convictions—the change could be substantial.
But there is an important catch:
Federal firearm law and Texas firearm law are separate.
A person can be prohibited under federal law even when Texas law permits limited firearm possession. And a successful federal restoration does not eliminate an independent prohibition imposed by Texas.
For Texans trying to understand what this new program actually means, that distinction is everything.
A Federal Restoration Process That Has Been Dormant for Decades
Federal law prohibits several categories of people from possessing firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
The most familiar is § 922(g)(1), which generally applies to a person convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison. Federal law also contains prohibitions involving certain fugitives, unlawful drug users, qualifying mental-health adjudications, certain immigration statuses, dishonorable military discharges, qualifying protective orders, and misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence.
But Congress also created a mechanism for individualized relief.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), a prohibited person may apply to the Attorney General for restoration of federal firearm rights. Relief may be granted if the applicant’s circumstances, record, and reputation demonstrate that the applicant is unlikely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief would not be contrary to the public interest.
Beginning in 1992, however, Congress barred ATF from spending appropriated funds to investigate or act on individual § 925(c) applications. As a practical matter, the statutory relief mechanism became unavailable.
DOJ began changing that structure in 2025 by withdrawing the delegation of § 925(c) authority from ATF. The new final rule now establishes the standards and procedures DOJ intends to use in processing applications.
That makes this more than a technical regulatory change.
For the first time in decades, Americans subject to federal firearm disabilities have a functioning administrative process through which they can ask the federal government to reconsider whether continued disarmament is justified in their individual case.
Not Every Applicant Is Treated the Same
The new rule does not create automatic restoration.
DOJ instead established several categories of presumptive disqualification.
Certain violent offenses—including homicide, rape, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, domestic violence, serious assaults, stalking, terrorism and similar conduct—carry a continuing presumption against restoration. Relief may still theoretically be available, but the applicant must demonstrate “extraordinary circumstances.”
Other offenses carry time-limited presumptions.
Drug-trafficking offenses, certain firearm offenses, explosives offenses and several other categories generally carry a 10-year presumptive period.
Most other felony convictions fall under a five-year presumptive period, measured from completion of the last requirement of the sentence. DOJ explains those categories and standards in its Federal Firearm Rights Restoration Program rule guidance.
That five-year category could be particularly important in Texas.
DOJ has acknowledged that applicants with a single old, nonviolent conviction who have satisfied the applicable time requirements may present comparatively straightforward cases. But expiration of the five-year period does not create an entitlement to restoration.
DOJ will still conduct an individualized review.
Among the factors DOJ may examine are the applicant’s entire criminal history, seriousness of the underlying conduct, behavior while incarcerated or under supervision, time elapsed since completion of the sentence, behavior during that period, substance use, restraining orders, threats, mental-health history, information from law enforcement and other relevant circumstances.
In other words, the passage of time matters—but so does what the applicant has done with that time.
What About Texans With Old Nonviolent DWI Convictions?
This is where the new rule becomes especially interesting.
First, an important distinction: a DWI arrest or charge by itself is not the same thing as a felony conviction that creates a lifetime federal § 922(g)(1) disability.
Under Texas Penal Code Chapter 49, an ordinary first DWI is generally a Class B misdemeanor. A second DWI is generally elevated to a Class A misdemeanor. But certain aggravated DWI offenses can be felonies, and a subsequent DWI can become a third-degree felony when the defendant has the predicate intoxication convictions specified by Texas law.
That distinction matters under federal law.
Section 922(g)(1) generally applies to a conviction for an offense punishable by more than one year in prison. The federal definition contains an important exception for qualifying state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20).
So an ordinary Texas misdemeanor DWI generally does not, standing alone, produce the federal felon-in-possession disability.
A felony DWI is different.
Under Texas Penal Code Chapter 12, a Texas third-degree felony carries a possible prison sentence of two to ten years. A state-jail felony can carry up to two years. Those punishments exceed the federal one-year threshold and can therefore trigger § 922(g)(1).
DOJ Specifically Considered Alcohol-Related Offenses
One of the most important details in the final rule has received comparatively little attention.
During the rulemaking process, commenters urged DOJ to make DUI, DWI and similar alcohol-related offenses a separate presumptively disqualifying category.
DOJ declined.
The Department concluded that alcohol-related offenses do not necessarily correspond to a federal firearm disability and declined to impose a special presumptive bar solely on that basis.
That does not mean DOJ will ignore alcohol history.
Applicants and their three character references must affirm, among other things, that the applicant does not regularly abuse alcohol or other intoxicants. DOJ’s requirements for character references make clear that current conduct and substance use remain relevant to the individualized review.
But the distinction is important.
Consider a Texan convicted years ago of a felony-level DWI that involved no death, serious bodily injury, domestic violence, firearm, threat, assault or other conduct falling into DOJ’s permanent or 10-year categories.
If that offense falls into the rule’s general “other felony” category, the applicant would ordinarily face a five-year presumption against restoration following completion of the sentence.
Once that five-year period has expired, the presumption itself no longer applies.
That does not guarantee relief. But a person who completed his sentence years ago, has remained free of criminal activity, does not abuse alcohol, has complied with the law, has established a stable record in the community and can produce credible character references would be able to present those facts directly to DOJ.
For someone who made serious mistakes years ago but has since demonstrated a long record of responsible conduct, that individualized inquiry is precisely where the new process differs from a categorical lifetime federal prohibition.
Texas Law Creates Another Problem
Even a successful federal application does not end the analysis.
Texas has its own felon-in-possession statute.
Under Texas Penal Code § 46.04, a person convicted of a felony generally may not possess a firearm before the fifth anniversary of the later of release from confinement or release from community supervision, parole or mandatory supervision.
After that five-year period expires, Texas law generally permits the person to possess a firearm only at the premises where the person lives.
Federal law does not contain that same home-possession exception.
That has created an unusual situation for some Texans.
Imagine a Texan convicted of a nonviolent felony 15 years ago who completed his sentence and supervision 10 years ago.
Under Texas law, the five-year period has expired. Texas therefore may permit that person to possess a firearm at his residence.
Yet federal law can still prohibit him from possessing that firearm anywhere—including inside his own home.
The new § 925(c) process could remove that federal barrier.
But DOJ cannot remove the remaining Texas restriction.
DOJ expressly warns applicants that federal firearm-rights restoration does not eliminate independent state-law restrictions.
So if that Texan receives federal relief, Texas law may still limit him to firearm possession at his residence.
He should not assume that federal restoration allows him to carry a firearm elsewhere in Texas.
“Federal Rights Restored” Does Not Mean “Conviction Erased”
Another distinction is critical.
A grant under § 925(c) relieves a federal firearms disability.
It is not an expunction.
It is not a pardon.
It does not vacate the conviction.
And it does not automatically erase other collateral consequences that Texas attaches to the conviction.
That can matter, for example, with a Texas License to Carry. Texas Government Code § 411.172 separately establishes eligibility requirements for an LTC, including restrictions involving felony convictions and qualification under applicable state and federal firearm law.
Federal firearm restoration alone does not necessarily satisfy those separate Texas requirements.
A Texas pardon is a different mechanism.
The Texas Attorney General has previously addressed the effect of a full gubernatorial pardon on Texas firearm disabilities.
Federal law also separately addresses convictions that have been pardoned, expunged, set aside or accompanied by a qualifying restoration of civil rights.
The legal effect of those mechanisms can therefore be broader than a § 925(c) grant.
Every case depends on the particular conviction and the particular form of relief obtained.
What DOJ Will Require
The process will not consist of simply checking a box and waiting for a decision.
Applicants may be required to provide extensive documentation, including charging documents, judgments, proof of completion of sentence requirements, criminal-history records from jurisdictions where they have lived or been arrested, fingerprints and information concerning other attempts to obtain restoration or post-conviction relief.
The Justice Department’s FFRR eligibility guidance explains who may apply and which federal firearm disabilities can potentially be addressed through the program.
DOJ also requires three character references.
Those references must not be related to the applicant by blood or marriage, must have known the applicant for at least three years and must themselves be legally eligible to possess firearms.
Among other things, they must attest to the applicant’s character, recent conduct, substance use and whether they believe the applicant would pose a danger if firearm rights were restored.
That places real importance on an applicant’s record after conviction.
A clean record, compliance with supervision, stable employment, community involvement, sobriety where relevant and years without additional criminal conduct are not merely sentimental appeals. They go directly to the statutory questions DOJ is required to answer:
Is this person likely to endanger the public, and would restoration be contrary to the public interest?
A Grant Also Changes the Federal Background-Check Record
When DOJ grants relief, the FBI will update the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
DOJ says a successful applicant may also receive a Restoration Personal Identification Number, or RPIN, that can be used in connection with future firearm purchases.
DOJ explains what happens following a favorable or unfavorable determination on its final decision and next steps page.
Successful grants are also subject to federal publication requirements.
If DOJ denies an application, § 925(c) permits the applicant to seek judicial review in the federal district court where the applicant resides.
That means the new system may eventually produce something else that has been missing for decades: a body of court decisions testing how DOJ applies concepts such as dangerousness, rehabilitation, extraordinary circumstances and the public interest.
What This Means for Texas
For Texans with old, nonviolent felony convictions, the new § 925(c) process creates a federal path to restoration that effectively did not exist for more than 30 years.
That could be especially significant for people whose offenses occurred years or decades ago, who completed their sentences, remained law-abiding, and can demonstrate that they no longer present a public-safety risk. DOJ’s decision not to place alcohol-related offenses such as DWI into a special presumptively disqualifying category makes individualized review particularly relevant for Texans with older felony DWI convictions.
But federal restoration is only one part of the legal picture. A DOJ grant does not erase the underlying conviction or eliminate independent restrictions under Texas law.
For Texans who have spent years living responsibly after an old conviction, the new process creates something they have long lacked: a meaningful opportunity to have the federal government judge their present conduct, rather than treat an old conviction as a permanent answer to whether they may exercise a constitutional right.
