The Justice Department says federal restrictions barring licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns and handgun ammunition to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 through 20 violate the Second Amendment and may no longer be criminally enforced against dealers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it will not criminally enforce federal restrictions preventing federally licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 through 20 after its Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the prohibition violates the Second Amendment.
The department announced the determination after the Office of Legal Counsel issued a Sept. 17 opinion examining two provisions of federal firearms law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and § 922(c)(1). Those provisions generally prevent licensed dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to people younger than 21.
The opinion does not repeal the statutes. Rather, it states the Justice Department may not constitutionally use them to impose criminal penalties on licensed dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults between 18 and 20.
In its formal announcement, DOJ said the Office of Legal Counsel concluded that adults in that age range are included among “the people” whose right to keep and bear arms is 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.”
The legal analysis focused on the Supreme Court’s modern Second Amendment framework, including District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and the 2026 decision Wolford v. Lopez. DOJ said those decisions require the government first to determine whether the Second Amendment’s text covers the people and conduct being regulated and, if it does, to demonstrate that the restriction is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
The Office of Legal Counsel concluded that adults ages 18 through 20 satisfy that first inquiry because they are members of “the people” protected by the Constitution and because handguns are commonly used firearms protected by the Second Amendment.
That shifted the analysis to whether the federal government could identify a sufficiently comparable historical tradition supporting the sales restriction.
DOJ said it found no Founding-era tradition of preventing legal adults from purchasing firearms on public-safety grounds. The department instead pointed to militia laws from the Founding period that commonly required military service beginning at age 18 and required members to supply their own weapons.
The federal restrictions at issue trace to the Gun Control Act framework enacted in 1968. Congress imposed age-based limits on licensed firearm dealers amid concerns about juvenile access to firearms and violent crime. Under the provisions examined by OLC, federally licensed dealers generally could sell rifles and shotguns to buyers beginning at 18 but could not sell handguns or handgun ammunition to purchasers younger than 21.
The OLC opinion said those restrictions effectively excluded adults ages 18 through 20 from purchasing handguns through the primary commercial firearms market, even though federal law could permit some members of that age group to obtain handguns through gifts or certain private intrastate transactions where otherwise lawful. State laws may separately restrict such transfers.
The Justice Department concluded that the federal dealer restriction could not survive the historical analysis required under the Supreme Court’s current Second Amendment jurisprudence.
“The Office of Legal Counsel concludes that…[statutes that generally prohibit federally licensed dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to individuals under 21] 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 opinion is specifically directed at otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 through 20 seeking to purchase handguns and at the federal statutes governing sales by licensed dealers. It does not state that other federal prohibitions governing people who are legally barred from possessing firearms are invalid, nor does it eliminate separate state firearms restrictions that may apply.
The practical result is a significant change in the federal government’s enforcement position: DOJ has concluded that federal prosecutors cannot constitutionally pursue criminal penalties against licensed firearms dealers solely for selling handguns to otherwise eligible adults ages 18 through 20 under the provisions analyzed by the Office of Legal Counsel.
Original article
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