TROY, Mich. – Could convicted felons soon get their federal gun rights back? Local 4 spoke to a previously convicted Metro Detroit man who hopes that comes to fruition.
Local 4 first found out about Terrance Caren’s story from his attorney, Barton Morris, in Troy.
“Terry hasn’t had a criminal offense, I believe, since 2002,” Morris, the principal attorney at the Law Offices of Barton Morris and the Founder of armedagain.com, said. “Prior to that, he was a different person. It was over 20 years ago, he had an assault offense and a number of nonviolent felony offenses. Now, he hasn’t caused any trouble, not so much as a traffic ticket.”
After petitioning, Caren got his state firearm rights back last year.
Since his last conviction in 2002, he says he’s helped raise a family, been married to his wife, and worked for many years.
“I did construction landscaping for about 28 years,” Caren said.
He may soon regain his federal firearms rights.
“Donald Trump took office in January 2025 and almost immediately passed an executive order directing his Department of Justice to strengthen its policies regarding the Second Amendment,” Morris said.
Soon after, the DOJ proposed restarting the 925(c) Program.
The program was started under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in the 1980s and ended in the 1990s.
The program helped people who “did not pose a large risk” regain those federal rights.
After the DOJ reproposed it over the summer, there was a public comment period.
Many have been waiting since then to find out when it would roll out.
“The final rule is being published in the federal register in March or April of 2026, which is going to kick off the entire program,” Morris said. “They are going to be very particular about whom or whose rights they are going to restore.”
According to the proposal, the program would not let people in who have domestic violence histories, people who were convicted of certain sex offenses, or various other violent offenses.
Some say they are concerned about convicted felons having the opportunity to get firearms back federally, so Local 4 asked Morris about that.
“The rules that were proposed last July clearly demonstrate that they really care about ensuring that they are not putting firearms in the hands of dangerous individuals,” Morris said.
Morris handles countless cases like this and says many people, in and out of the state, are already reaching out to his office for help ahead of the program’s rollout.
He believes there are several hundred thousand people in Michigan who plan to apply to the program.
The DOJ says it expects more than one million people nationwide to apply when the program is rolled out.