5,000 Applicants In, Door Closed: DOJ Gun Rights Restoration Site Won’t Take New Applications Until January 2027

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WASHINGTON, DC — The Justice Department’s Federal Firearm Rights Restoration application has reached its limit of 5,000 new applicants and is closed to anyone who has not already started, according to the department’s official application page, last updated Wednesday, Nov. 4. The department says the site will reopen in January 2027.

In August I covered SAF Sued Over Lifetime Gun Bans for Non-Violent Felons. The Justice Department Just Built the Application Portal. That story covered Attorney General Todd Blanche finalizing the rule that lets people barred from owning guns over criminal convictions apply to have their federal rights restored. What is new is that the online application has already hit its cap.

The department’s wording is blunt. “We have reached our limit of 5,000 new applicants, so the application website is temporarily closed. We cannot accept any new applications at this time,” the page says. The department’s answer to when the site will reopen is two words: “January 2027.”

If you already got in, you are not locked out. “If you have already started one, you can log in, finish and submit it,” the Justice Department says. There is also no workaround on paper. “This form must be completed and submitted online. There is no paper option,” according to the page.

No court ruling is involved in this update. The account here rests entirely on the Justice Department’s description of its own program. The department’s page does not say when applications first opened, how quickly the 5,000 slots filled, or whether the limit will change when the site reopens.

The department’s program site lays out the process in three steps.

• Prepare to apply. This covers who can apply, presumptive disqualifiers and required documents.
• Complete the application. This uses an online form (OMB Form #1123-0017) and requires a $30 application fee, electronic fingerprints and character references.
• Wait for a decision. This includes responding to the department’s restoration specialists before a final decision.

The site also carries a separate section on 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4), the federal gun prohibition tied to mental health adjudications and commitments.

When I wrote about the rule in August, the burden sat squarely on the applicant. Each person has to show the Attorney General they are not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety. Character references and a clean record of conduct since the conviction are where that case gets made.

More from USA Carry:

• SAF Sued Over Lifetime Gun Bans for Non-Violent Felons. The Justice Department Just Built the Application Portal. – USA Carry
• NYC Gun License Applicants Sue NYPD Over Years-Long Delays That Blocked Their Second Amendment Rights
• “Buy Me a 20 Piece”: Stranger’s Demand Outside a Georgia Asian Market Escalates to a Shove, an Open Car Door, and Three Rounds From a DoorDash Driver’s Glock
• Arkansas Moves to Bolster Gun Rights with New Constitutional Amendment—Here’s What It Means for You
• 5 Steps to Take to Support Second Amendment Gun Rights

The first 5,000 slots are gone. If you plan to apply when the site reopens, use the time between now and January to get ready. Gather your documents, line up your character references, and figure out where you will get electronic fingerprints done. That way you are not starting from zero the day the window opens. If you are one of the people with an application already in progress, finish it and submit it.

I will continue tracking the Federal Firearm Rights Restoration program, including what happens when the application site reopens in January 2027.

Read the original story: 5,000 Applicants In, Door Closed: DOJ Gun Rights Restoration Site Won’t Take New Applications Until January 2027