DOJ says federal prohibition on handgun sales to 18-20-year-olds is unconstitutional
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday announced a new legal opinion concluding that a federal prohibition on handgun sales to Americans ages 18-20 is unconstitutional – a big step forward in the eyes of gun right advocates.
by Summer Lane | September 18, 2026
On Friday, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel released a legal opinion that is sure to make Second Amendment absolutists rejoice: selling handguns to 18- to 20-year-old Americans is constitutional, at least in the eyes of the office.
According to the DOJ, the longstanding prohibition on federally licensed gun dealers on selling to 18 to 20-year-olds is a violation of the Second Amendment – an argument long espoused by Second Amendment advocates in the U.S.
“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 DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel in a statement.
He continued, “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 agency noted in its announcement on Friday that “the people” referenced in the Second Amendment (“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”) does indeed also include those who are 18.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier celebrated the DOJ’s opinion.
“Glad DOJ has followed suit in this fight for the Second Amendment rights of Americans who are old enough to sign up to defend our nation!” he wrote in a social media statement. “We took this position at the Supreme Court a year ago and look forward to working with the Florida Legislature to right this wrong!”
The National Association for Gun Rights called Friday’s opinion a “very hopeful sign” and noted that it was the first time “any part of the DOJ has taken a position on whether the federal 18-20 handgun purchase ban is constitutional.”
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