{"id":2655617,"date":"2026-09-07T16:08:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-gives-second-chance-to-reformed-criminals-who-lost-gun-rights-one-lost-his-for-listening-to-a-phone-call\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T16:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:10:10","slug":"doj-gives-second-chance-to-reformed-criminals-who-lost-gun-rights-one-lost-his-for-listening-to-a-phone-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-gives-second-chance-to-reformed-criminals-who-lost-gun-rights-one-lost-his-for-listening-to-a-phone-call\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Gives Second Chance to Reformed Criminals Who Lost Gun Rights: One Lost His for Listening to a Phone Call"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-gives-second-chance-to-reformed-criminals-who-lost-gun-rights-one-lost-his-for-listening-to-a-phone-call%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2655617&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), under the Trump management, has announced the reinstatement of gun rights for nine individuals through a revived process permitted by federal law. attorney General Todd Blanche reviewed each case, confirming that these individuals, some with prior felony convictions-including one related to an <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >illegal phone call eavesdropping incident-<\/a>are deemed not likely to pose public safety risks. This renewed process was previously blocked by Congress since 1992 but has now been relocated from the ATF to the Office of the Pardon Attorney. The move follows a February 2025 executive order from President Trump aimed at protecting Second Amendment rights. The individuals whose rights were restored include Patrick Atkinson, Thomas Leon Brooks, Truman James Cox, Dennis L. Haynes, Joshua Ryan Huffman, Dennis William Richardson, Nicholas Robert Sylvester, Jeffrey Alan wines, and Edmund Arthur Matricardi, III.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday the names of the first people to have their federal gun rights restored in a program re-started by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Attorney General Todd Blanche <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2026\/08\/17\/doj-revives-process-to-restore-gun-rights-denied-for-decades\/\">announced<\/a> on August 17 that DOJ was reviving a process allowed by <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/18\/925\">federal law<\/a> that provided a way for those who lost gun rights due to criminal convictions to have them restored. In the <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/regulations.justia.com\/regulations\/fedreg\/2026\/08\/27\/2026-17527.html\">regulation<\/a> published Thursday, Blanche\u2019s office announced that nine individuals had their gun rights reinstated under the new process, one of whom was convicted of a felony for listening in on calls about re-districting in 2002. <b><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cAttorney General Todd Blanche has reviewed all the relevant facts for each individual listed below, including the materials that each individual submitted seeking either a pardon or relief from Federal firearms disabilities, and it is established to his satisfaction that each individual will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that the granting of the relief to each individual would not be contrary to the public interest,\u201d the regulation read.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">While\u00a0federal law\u00a0provides for a process to restore Second Amendment rights lost after a felony conviction or other circumstances, Congress had largely blocked the process since 1992 by <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalsecuritylawfirm.com\/federal-firearm-18-u-s-c-%C2%A7-925c\/\">refusing to allow<\/a> the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to spend any federal funds on it. The process has now been moved to the Office of the Pardon Attorney as opposed to ATF, according to the August 17 release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The nine individuals whose gun rights were restored are Patrick Atkinson, Thomas Leon Brooks, Truman James Cox, Dennis L. Haynes, Joshua Ryan Huffman, Dennis William Richardson, Nicholas Robert Sylvester, Jeffrey Alan Wines and Edmund Arthur Matricardi, III.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Marticardi was <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2003\/07\/09\/us\/republican-is-sentenced-for-eavesdropping.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">convicted <\/a>of illegally intercepting a phone call during which Virginia Democrats were discussing plans to challenge the state\u2019s redistricting after the 2000 census, The New York Times reported. According to a 2022 <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/district-courts\/illinois\/ilndce\/1:2021cv00291\/395204\/14\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decision<\/a> from the Eastern District of Illinois dismissing a challenge to federal laws prohibiting a felon from possessing a firearm, Patrick Atkinson had a 1998 felony conviction for mail fraud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">A February 2025 <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/02\/protecting-second-amendment-rights\/\">executive order<\/a> signed by President Donald Trump directed the DOJ to review government policies to address infringements of Second Amendment rights and to actively protect the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Eight individuals had their gun rights restored as of May 18, 2026, while a ninth person\u2019s rights were reinstated on August 5.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. 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