in effect
This is an interim final rule (a regulation that takes effect immediately while still inviting public comment) issued by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Attorney General. It withdraws the Attorney General’s earlier decision to hand off (“delegate”) to ATF the job of deciding applications under 18 U.S.C. 925(c), the law that lets certain people barred from having firearms ask to have that restriction removed. It also deletes the ATF regulation that spelled out how those applications were processed.
Two regulatory changes take effect March 20, 2025: the rule removes 27 CFR 478.144 (the ATF procedure for these applications, including outdated steps like filing “in triplicate”) and revises 28 CFR 0.130 to carve section 925(c) out of ATF’s delegated firearms authority. As a result, ATF is no longer the designated agency for these decisions, and that responsibility is not being transferred to any other agency or department. The underlying legal remedy in 18 U.S.C. 925(c) still exists on the books, but no agency currently has a delegated process to act on it. The Department frames this as clearing a “clean slate” for a future approach and says it expects to propose legislation and possible new rulemaking later. The public may submit written comments through June 18, 2025, via regulations.gov or by mail, referencing RIN 1105-AB78 or Docket No. OLP-179.
Individuals who are legally prohibited from having firearms and who might seek to restore that ability under section 925(c) are affected, though in practical terms the document states ATF had already been blocked by annual funding restrictions from acting on individual applications since 1992. Corporations, which could still apply, are also affected, though the document notes ATF has received no such application since 2018. ATF itself is affected because it loses its delegated authority over this function; the document states the change is an internal reassignment of duties that it concludes does not directly impose new burdens on the general public.