Built to Help You Reclaim What’s Yours

Until 2001, I had no criminal record. That year I was charged in a federal white-collar case. I accepted responsibility, served more than a year in federal prison, and completed three years of supervised release.

I thought the punishment was the time itself — the constant unfamiliar smells that never left your clothes or skin, sleeping inches away from men who were both willing and fully capable of serious violence, and the degrading phone calls home where a recording repeatedly announced to everyone on the line that this call was coming from a federal prison. If you’ve lived it, you know exactly how it stays with you. 4:00 and 10:00 PM would never be the same.

At the time, I believed the prison sentence was the punishment. I was wrong.

The lasting punishment was being permanently branded a felon — and the lifetime loss of my Second Amendment rights. While lifetime firearm prohibitions make sense for certain violent offenders, applying the same permanent ban to every person with a federal conviction is neither fair nor consistent with the idea of second chances.

For more than thirty years, a federal law (18 U.S.C. § 925(c)) existed that allowed people in my situation to apply for restoration of their firearm rights. Congress passed it. Yet successive administrations never fully funded or implemented the process. As a result, the path remained closed.

That has now changed. Thank you, President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., and the great men and women serving our government!

I was genuinely surprised when the current administration moved forward with a real process to restore federal firearm rights. After decades of inaction, the opportunity that existed only on paper is finally becoming available.

Our mission is to only assist those who qualify.

As with any government program, the process can be confusing. Do this. Then do that. Gather these documents. Follow these steps. It all sounds simple until you’re the one trying to do it. Easier said than done.

Our assistance is only as good as your assistance.

One of the biggest hurdles in this process is gathering the required documents — especially a copy of your Presentence Investigation (PSI) report. If you already have a copy, that is a major advantage. Most people do not. Very few of us hold onto the paperwork that brings back bad memories. We understand this challenge and are prepared to help guide you through the steps of obtaining the records you need.

As with any federal program, this is a process. We are only as good as the information we can obtain. This is a process I never thought I would see in my lifetime.

Before this firearm rights restoration process became available, most of us — myself included — could only hope and pray for a presidential pardon. Until now, that was essentially the only realistic path.

National Firearm Rights Assistance was created because I know what it feels like to lose these rights and believe they are gone forever. Our goal is simple: to help others navigate this new process with clear information and practical guidance so they can pursue the second chance that the law now makes possible.