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Washington Post Gets It Almost Right About Restoration of Second Amendment Rights

Monday, March 17, 2025

Washington Post Gets It Almost Right About Restoration of Second Amendment Rights

Last week brought yet another installment in the ongoing saga of The Washington Post’s (WAPO) pivot toward “individual liberties and free markets” in its opinion section. This time, WAPO published an editorial by two law professors who argue the government should resume funding a provision of federal law that allows the U.S. attorney general (AG) to grant relief from federal firearm disabilities on a case-by-case basis.

That authority remains on the books but has been inactive since1991, when the firearm prohibitionists at the Violence Policy Center released a “report” claiming some individuals granted relief later reoffended. Congress responded to the report by passing language in bills funding the ATF, the agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ) the AG had chosen to process the petitions, prohibiting use of any funds for that purpose.

The issue is now back in the news because the Trump DOJ recently began reviewing petitions under the statute through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. This was a clever way to get around the funding rider, which by its terms applies to ATF, not all of DOJ (the WAPO article gets that particular detail wrong). Recent news reports indicate a former attorney within that office is now claiming she was fired because she refused to recommend that actor Mel Gibson be granted restoration. The basis for Gibson’s federal firearms disability is a 2011 conviction that fell under the heading of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” one of about a dozen categories of events that trigger a presumptive lifetime ban on firearm possession.

The professors admit that the categories include people who, especially over time, would not be demonstrably dangerous and who's ongoing Second Amendment prohibitions would likely not survive scrutiny under recent U.S. Supreme Court caselaw. On those points, at least, they are correct.

But they also believe the availability of relief might insulate these admittedly over-broad categories from further constitutional challenge. Thus, while they speculate that making relief available “is likely to lead to a handful of fatalities,” it’s better than the alternative of “[t]housand[s] more people … d[ying] each year if the Supreme Court strikes down wholesale the possession prohibitions … .”

Without belaboring the point, this melodramatic analysis overestimates the value of the federal scheme of prohibited persons and mandatory background checks for retail firearm purchases, which is routinely ignored and circumvented by the highest-risk offenders.

To be clear, NRA-ILA supports a mechanism for prohibited persons to petition for relief from firearm disabilities. And it seems the Trump administration has found a workable legal route for that process, even if DOJ employees might be prone to err on the side of denial. That at least is as positive start.

We disagree, however, that the ability to petition for relief somehow excuses over-broad, ahistorical prohibited person categories for which there is no similar precedent dating back to the founding era, as Supreme Court precedent requires.

Properly construed, that precedent also requires the government to carry the burden of proof in the first instance that a person who is prohibited from firearm possession poses an enhanced risk of physical harm to self or others. The scheme the professors contemplate shifts that burden to the individual who was unconstitutionally deprived of his or her rights. That is a violation of due process, something law professors used to (at least) believe was important.

One reason unconstitutional, over-broad prohibited person categories found their way into American law is because the legal elite of the 20th Century promoted the false “consensus view” that the Second Amendment didn’t protect individual rights at all. That view, and the gun controllers’ fallback position that Second Amendment rights could be subordinated to states’ rote, unsubstantiated assertions of the public safety imperative of their laws, have been repudiated by the high court. This should lead to a long overdue reckoning.

We commend the Trump administration for its proactive approach to this important issue and wish Mr. Gibson well in his own attempt to obtain restoration. We know of no fundamental civil right other than the Second Amendment that is permanently lost for a misdemeanor conviction.  

We also encourage WAPO to continue these experiments in advocating for Second Amendment rights. Maybe, in time, they’ll figure it out.

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Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the federal agency whose jurisdiction encompasses federal firearms laws. 

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

Last month, the American Bar Association (ABA), via its Standing Committee on Gun Violence, passed yet another anti-gun resolution at their annual meeting in Toronto (the venue should serve as a clue regarding their commitment ...

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Attorney Gen. New Jersey is an NRA-supported challenge to New Jersey’s prohibitions on so-called “assault firearms” and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

The Delusion of Ignoring Criminals

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

The Delusion of Ignoring Criminals

Is it something in the water? Officials in Democrat-run strongholds like Chicago are unwilling to accept that their crime problems are the result of their pro-criminal, anti-victim policies, including gun laws that restrict the rights ...

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Monday, July 7, 2025

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2025–2026, which includes a Second Amendment sales tax holiday from September 8 through December 31, 2025. The NRA is thankful for Governor DeSantis’ strong ...

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

California: Action Needed! Anti-Gun Bills Could Receive Floor Votes Today!

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

California: Action Needed! Anti-Gun Bills Could Receive Floor Votes Today!

On Friday, August 29th, the California Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees advanced several anti-gun bills that could receive floor votes as early as today. Please use the TAKE ACTION button below to contact your state ...

Grassroots Spotlight: Tacoma Sportman's Club

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Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Grassroots Spotlight: Tacoma Sportman's Club

Last month, Jane Milhans, an NRA-ILA FrontLines Activist Leader (FAL) in Washington state, hosted an “NRA 2A Evening and Grassroots Meeting” at the Tacoma Sportsman’s Club.

Everytown Gun “Safety” Course—Step One: Don’t Own a Gun

News  

Monday, August 25, 2025

Everytown Gun “Safety” Course—Step One: Don’t Own a Gun

Our friends at the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) have reported that Everytown, an active and well-funded anti-gun organization, is now purporting to be branching out into teaching gun owners how to safely handle firearms.

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.