# Kiriakou's gun rights appeal > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Kiriakou's gun rights appeal," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-gun-rights-appeal/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's effort to have the firearms disability attached to his felony conviction lifted, by suing the Justice Department over a restoration process announced in 2025 and never built, and separately by applying for a presidential pardon he says he cannot count on.* - **Disability:** Loss of firearms rights on felony conviction - **Route one:** Suit against the Department of Justice - **Route two:** Application for a presidential pardon - **Obstacle:** *"The CIA doesn't want me to be pardoned institutionally"* Kiriakou lost the right to carry a firearm on conviction of a felony, and is pursuing its restoration by two routes at once.[1] ## The position He states the underlying view knowing it will cost him with his own audience, *"What I'm going to say is probably going to be a little controversial. And if you want to hate on me in the comments, go ahead and hate on me"*, and does not soften it: *"I've always considered myself to be a progressive, a leftist. But I feel very, very strongly about my right to carry a gun."*[2][1] The occasion was a shooting at a fast-food restaurant in Idaho, which he argues was contained because an armed bystander was present.[2][1] His argument is from circumstance rather than principle: it would be *"wonderful if there were no guns for anybody"* and America could be *"like, I don't know, Sweden or whatever"*, *"But we're not like Sweden. That's not the reality,"* and what protects people from criminals, since the police cannot always do it, is *"honest citizens with their own weapons."*[3] ## The suit On his second inauguration [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump) ordered the Justice Department to begin restoring the gun rights of felons whose cases involved no violence, no drugs and no organised crime, a description Kiriakou applies to himself: *"That's me."*[4] In April 2025 the department announced the order, promised a website with a form, and undertook that the ATF would investigate each application. *"They have not updated that since the day that they posted that message."*[4][5] His response is litigation, justified with a phrase borrowed from an attorney who once opposed him: *"I'm a litigious prick. And so, I'm going to file a suit against the Department of Justice to get my gun rights back."*[5] ## The pardon A presidential pardon would restore the rights directly, and he has applied for one, reporting *"both broad and deep support"* for it. He does not expect it to be enough: *"I can't count on a pardon. The CIA doesn't want me to be pardoned institutionally."*[6] ## See also - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) - [Mark Warner](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mark-warner) ## Sources 1. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 28:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1716s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ 2. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 28:05. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1685s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ 3. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 29:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1747s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ 4. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 29:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1779s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ 5. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 30:10. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1810s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ 6. Trump Is Coming for the Man Who Put Me in Prison. | Ep. 8 (2026-08-06), at 30:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acka-0VUri8&t=1841s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-06-john-kiriakou-trump-is-coming-for-the-man-who-put-me-in-pri/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/kiriakou-gun-rights-appeal/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt