Kyle Myers became one of the most recognizable firearms personalities on the early internet. Millions knew him as FPSRussia, the Georgia gun owner playing the fictional “Professional Russian” Dmitri Potapoff while demonstrating everything from AKs and belt-fed machine guns to armored vehicles and artillery.
Today, Myers cannot legally possess a single round of ammunition.
He was not convicted of shooting anyone, threatening anyone, using a firearm during a crime, or operating a violent trafficking organization. His lifetime federal firearms disability grew out of a marijuana felony involving approximately 25 grams—less than one ounce—of butane honey oil.
Myers broke the law that existed at the time and pleaded guilty. He also served the sentence the government imposed. None of that establishes that he is dangerous with a firearm, and it does not justify stripping him of a fundamental constitutional right for the rest of his life.
President Donald Trump should grant Kyle Myers a full pardon and expressly restore his right to keep and bear arms.
Patrick Adamiak got his pardon, but we still have another who should have gotten it long ago.
Pardon Kyle, give him his rights back. pic.twitter.com/Q0ms8oTxMl
— Doc Strangelove (@DocStrangelove2) September 10, 2026
How FPSRussia Became a Prohibited Person
In August 2017, authorities arrested Myers after he received approximately 25 grams of butane honey oil through the mail. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation described the substance as “a marijuana concentrate.”
Authorities subsequently searched Myers’s home and seized numerous firearms and other property. The case eventually moved into federal court as United States v. Myers, No. 3:18-cr-00049, in the Middle District of Georgia.
Myers pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana and butane hash oil. Public case summaries report that he received 56 days in federal prison, two years of probation or supervision, and a $7,500 fine.
The relatively short prison term concealed the real punishment. Because the offense was punishable by more than one year in prison, Myers became a prohibited person under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). That meant a permanent federal ban on possessing firearms or ammunition.
The conviction closed the door on any lawful return to the firearm demonstrations that made FPSRussia YouTube-famous. That is a lifelong penalty attached to conduct involving marijuana, not violence.
DOJ’s New Rule Undercuts Myers’s Continued Disarmament
The timing makes Myers’s case impossible to ignore.
Attorney General Todd Blanche recently finalized a new Federal Firearm Rights Restoration process under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c). The rule becomes effective September 21, 2026, and the Justice Department plans to open the application portal to the first 5,000 public applicants on November 4.
For more than 30 years, the statutory restoration process was effectively unavailable because Congress prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from spending money to process applications. DOJ has now transferred the work to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.
AmmoLand previously examined the new process in “DOJ Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration After 30-Year Shutdown.”
The most important language for Myers appears in the rule’s definitions. For purposes of the restoration program, “controlled substance” does not include marijuana.
The rule ordinarily places a ten-year presumption against restoring rights following a conviction for manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance. Other felony convictions generally receive a five-year presumptive waiting period, calculated from the completion of every part of the sentence.
Because DOJ expressly excluded marijuana from its definition of “controlled substance,” the plain language of the rule strongly suggests that Myers’s marijuana conviction falls under the five-year category rather than the ten-year drug-trafficking category.
DOJ should publicly confirm that interpretation. Myers’s official judgment and sentence-completion record would also be needed to calculate his exact eligibility date. Based on the publicly reported timeline, however, he appears to have completed his sentence approximately five years ago.
In other words, FPSRussia could be among the clearest early candidates for restoration.
Marijuana Is Not Proof of Firearm Dangerousness
In United States v. Hemani, the Supreme Court rejected the federal government’s attempt to automatically disarm a man based solely on regular marijuana use. The government had not alleged that Hemani was intoxicated while possessing the gun, addicted, unable to manage his affairs, dangerous to himself or others, or irresponsible with the firearm.
As AmmoLand explained in “Not Just Marijuana: CRS Says Hemani Could Put More Federal Gun Bans in the Crosshairs,” the decision did not erase § 922(g)(3) or create a right to mishandle firearms while impaired. It rejected the idea that marijuana use alone proves someone is too dangerous to exercise the Second Amendment.
Myers’s conviction was for possession with intent to distribute, not mere use, so Hemani does not overturn his conviction. But the same fundamental problem remains: Where is the evidence that Myers poses a danger today?
He has lived under this disability for years. His offense did not involve firing, brandishing, or criminally using a gun. The government punished him with imprisonment, supervision, a substantial fine, the loss of valuable property, and a felony record.
Yet they still claims the power to disarm him until death.
The founding generation did not establish a blanket rule under which every person convicted of any offense carrying a potential sentence of more than one year permanently lost the right to arms. Modern legislatures have created thousands of felonies covering conduct the Founders would never have recognized as justification for civil death.
The Second Amendment protects a right, not a privilege handed back only when a bureaucrat feels generous.
Why Myers Needs a Presidential Pardon
The new § 925(c) process is important, but administrative restoration may not solve Myers’s entire problem.
DOJ acknowledges that federal relief does not override an independent state firearms prohibition. Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles currently says it cannot restore firearm rights lost because of a federal felony.
Its official guidance is direct:
“Can I have my right to legally possess a firearm restored if I have a felony FEDERAL conviction? No. The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles does not have the authority to restore firearm rights on felony federal convictions. You will need to apply for a presidential pardon.”
Georgia should clarify whether a new § 925(c) restoration order would change that answer. Until it does, Myers could obtain federal relief only to remain exposed under Georgia law.
A presidential pardon is the cleaner remedy.
DOJ’s own restoration FAQ states that a full presidential pardon removes the penalties and disabilities—including a firearm disability—resulting from a federal conviction. Any pardon issued to Myers should expressly restore his right to receive, possess, transport, carry, and use firearms and ammunition.
A pardon would also do something an administrative restoration order cannot: formally recognize that a lifetime of punishment is unjustified.
Trump Pardoned Adamiak. FPSRussia Should Be Next.
President Trump has already shown that he is willing to correct abusive or excessive federal gun prosecutions.
On September 3, Trump granted full pardons to Patrick “Tate” Adamiak, George Peterson, Jeremy Kettler, and Shane Cox. AmmoLand had repeatedly called attention to Adamiak’s prosecution and directly urged gun owners to write the White House demanding a pardon.
Trump ultimately acted. Adamiak walked out of federal prison after serving roughly four years of a 20-year sentence arising from disputed NFA classifications and government testing of demilled parts and inert collectibles.
The Adamiak and Peterson pardons did not erase the federal court opinions in their cases. They did restore liberty to men caught under federal gun laws that treated regulatory possession offenses like violent crime.
The same official clemency list contains pardons for people convicted of serious marijuana-trafficking offenses. Pardoning Myers would therefore break no new legal or political ground.
It would simply acknowledge the obvious: A marijuana conviction from years ago is not sufficient reason to permanently disarm a peaceable American.
Kyle Myers served his sentence. He has spent years as a prohibited person. His offense did not involve violence, and the Justice Department’s own new rule rejects marijuana as an automatic marker of dangerousness.
The federal government took his freedom, his firearms, and his ability to continue the work that made FPSRussia a household name among gun owners. It should not keep his Second Amendment rights forever.
President Trump should pardon Kyle Myers and give FPSRussia his gun rights back.
DOJ Revives Federal Firearm Rights Restoration After 30-Year Shutdown
About Duncan Johnson:
Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor and editor-in-chief for AmmoLand News and is responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.
