The Justice Department will no longer enforce federal laws barring Americans under the age of 21 from owning handguns.
The agency also informed a federal appeals court on Monday that it was dropping its appeal of a ruling that struck down the law, meaning that the ruling will stand.
In a memo released last month, the DOJ noted that the federal law “may not be enforced to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to a class of law-abiding adults who, in nearly every other relevant respect, are members of the political community.”
The memo further noted the contradiction between making 18-year-olds eligible to be drafted, but not allowing them to arm themselves with handguns.
"Our laws deem an eighteen-year-old 'mature enough to be drafted, vote, serve as a juror, and be sentenced to death.' One such eighteen-year-old represented the United States at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, shooting skeet. Yet, due to statutes predicated on concerns over an eighteen-year-old's ability to handle a pistol as a responsible adult, it would have been a federal felony if a licensed dealer had sold her such a firearm before she left or after she returned to her studies at the University of Texas at Arlington."
A DOJ press release further explains the development.
The Office of Legal Counsel’s new opinion explains that federal statutes 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) are inconsistent with the Second Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, and subsequent decisions including Wolford v. Lopez. These statutes generally prohibit federally licensed dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to individuals under 21.
The Office of Legal Counsel determined that 18 to 20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment. “Eighteen-year-olds may vote, serve on juries, be drafted, and face adult criminal penalties, including capital punishment,” said Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. "The Constitution protects the people’s right to keep and bear arms. The Department of Justice may not constitutionally seek to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to law-abiding adults who, in nearly every other relevant respect, are members of the political community.”
DOJ told the Fifth Circuit its appeal over the under-21 handgun ban injunction is moot — it says it "will not enforce the challenged provisions against anyone, anywhere," citing an OLC opinion. Current injunction still covers only certain FPC/LSA members in the 5th Cir. FPC wants broader relief. Via Bearing Arms (filing not independently verified): https://t.co/3NLJXZlx7K
— John Crump (@right2bear) October 5, 2026
Judge Edith Jones acknowledged that the Second Amendment includes adults aged 18 or older. "Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among 'the people' whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” she wrote.
This is a big win for gun rights in America as it removes one of the anti-gunner left’s primary ways of infringing on the right to keep and bear arms.
