The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that federal restrictions preventing licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 to 20 cannot be constitutionally enforced under the Second Amendment.
The opinion, released Friday, addresses 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and (c)(1), which generally prohibit federally licensed dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to people under 21.
The Office of Legal Counsel said the restrictions 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.
Adults Ages 18 to 20 Covered by Second Amendment
The Office of Legal Counsel determined that adults between 18 and 20 are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment.
Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser said 18-year-olds can vote, serve on juries, be drafted and face adult criminal penalties, including capital punishment.
“The Constitution protects the people’s right to keep and bear arms,” Gaiser said. He added that the Justice Department cannot constitutionally impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults in that age group.
The opinion also concluded that the Second Amendment’s protection includes the ability to acquire commonly used firearms. Because the federal restrictions burden that ability, the Office of Legal Counsel said the laws fall within the amendment’s plain text and are presumptively unconstitutional.
DOJ Finds No Founding-Era Tradition Supporting Ban
The Office of Legal Counsel examined historical firearm regulations from the founding era and said it found no tradition of preventing legal adults from purchasing firearms as a public-safety measure.
Instead, the opinion points to early militia laws that generally required service beginning at age 18 and required those serving to provide their own firearms. The opinion said that historical evidence does not establish a comparable restriction on firearm purchases by adults between 18 and 20.
The analysis follows the constitutional framework established by the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment decisions, including Heller and Bruen, and the subsequent decision in Wolford v. Lopez.
Opinion Limits Federal Criminal Enforcement
The Office of Legal Counsel specifically concluded that Sections 922(b)(1) and 922(c)(1) may not be enforced to impose criminal penalties on licensed dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 to 20.
The opinion concerns the federal government’s ability to enforce those provisions against dealers and does not itself repeal the statutes. The Justice Department said the opinion represents its legal conclusion regarding enforcement under the Second Amendment.
