By: Armed Attorneys (Not AI) (Self-Defense Legal Protection Program)
An 18-year-old can vote, qualify for jury service, be drafted, and face adult criminal punishment. But, until recently, federal law prohibited a federal firearm licensed dealer (“FFL”) from selling that same adult a handgun under U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1). Interestingly, this restriction does not prohibit an 18-to-20-year-old from owning or possessing a handgun, it just closed off the licensed retail market.
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Upheld… until it wasn’t
On January 30, 2025, a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel in Reese v. ATF held the federal restriction unconstitutional.
Applying the Supreme Court’s framework from New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the court concluded that 18-to-20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment and that the right to keep and bear arms encompasses the ability to acquire them. As the court put it, “the right to ‘keep and bear arms’ surely implies the right to purchase them.”
The court then turned to history. At the Founding, militia laws commonly required young adults to possess arms, while the government could not identify a comparable Founding-era tradition barring 18-to-20-year-olds from buying handguns. The court concluded that the much later state restrictions the government relied upon could not establish the necessary historical tradition.
That decision is binding precedent for federal courts within the Fifth Circuit which includes Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, unless it is overturned by the Fifth Circuit sitting en banc or by the Supreme Court.
The catch: how narrow was the injunction?
After the case returned to the district court, Judge Robert Summerhays entered final judgment on January 27, 2026. The judgment declared §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) unconstitutional to the extent they prevent handgun or handgun-ammunition sales to 18-to-20-year-olds based on age. But the injunction restraining the federal government was narrowly tailored. Enforcement was prohibited within Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi against the plaintiffs and anyone who was a member of Firearms Policy Coalition (“FPC”), Second Amendment Foundation (“SAF”), or Louisiana Shooting Association (“LSA”) as of January 27, 2026. It was crucial that these groups joined the fight as the individual plaintiffs had already turned 21.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Join one of those organizations after January 27, 2026, and live outside of the 5th Circuit, and the current injunction does not add you to the protected group. However, the organizations appealed those geographic and membership-date limits, and the government cross-appealed. That appeal, Fifth Circuit No. 26-30154, remains pending.
Houston, we have a circuit split
The federal courts are not speaking with one voice when it comes to the age to purchase a handgun. In June 2025, the Fourth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in McCoy v. ATF and upheld § 922(b)(1) but the Supreme Court denied reviewing that decision as of June 30, 2026.
Then the Justice Department changed its position
On September 17, 2026, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”) issued a formal opinion concluding that 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) are unconstitutional as applied to law-abiding adults between 18 and 20 who seek to purchase handguns. The next day, DOJ publicly announced that the provisions cannot be criminally enforced against licensed dealers making those sales.
This is significant because the OLC provides controlling legal advice to Executive Branch officials on questions of law, and it is binding on federal prosecutors. But it is also not the same thing as a court order; an OLC opinion does not repeal the law, bind federal courts, and it does not give an individual buyer or dealer enforceable protection.
There is another important limitation, the OLC framed its ultimate conclusion in terms of criminal penalties against dealers. The opinion expressly says it is not deciding the continued validity of age-neutral sales requirements, the federal rules applicable to people under 18, or the enhanced NICS investigative period for purchasers under 21. As of the publication of this article, ATF’s public website still tells FFLs that they may not sell a handgun to someone under 21.
What does this mean for an 18, 19, or 20-year-old?
There are three layers, we must recognize:
- First, Reese is binding Fifth Circuit precedent holding the federal age restriction unconstitutional.
- Second, the January 27 injunction gives direct judicial protection only to a defined group of plaintiffs and organizational members, within the geographic scope of the order (also, remember they had to be members at the time of the order).
- Third, DOJ’s current Executive Branch position is that the federal government may not constitutionally impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds (in the Fifth Circuit or otherwise).
That is all to say, there is considerable protection, bolstered if they are within the Fifth Circuit, and even more so if the person was a member of one of the plaintiff organizations at the time of the injunction, but remember, FFLs still have the ultimate discretion on transfers. For someone outside the injunction’s protected membership group or the Fifth Circuit, the situation is not as clear as “the ban is gone.” The OLC’s opinion is very important, but it is also important to remember, the statute remains in the United States Code and the mechanics of the transfer process, depending on the state, must still be ironed out.
What does this mean for an FFL in the Fifth Circuit?
The Fifth Circuit has held the federal restriction unconstitutional, and DOJ has now formally concluded that dealers may not be criminally punished for selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds. But until ATF issues updated operational guidance, questions surrounding forms, NICS procedures, licensing administration, and the interaction with state law (if any) should not be casually collapsed into “good to go!” We are monitoring this situation closely and will provide an update as soon as practicable.
What if you are outside Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi?
Reese is not binding precedent on federal courts outside the Fifth Circuit. The Fourth Circuit, for example, upheld the federal restriction in McCoy. The September OLC opinion is nevertheless the current legal position of the Executive Branch concerning federal criminal enforcement, but remember, state restrictions on handgun acquisition remain a separate issue.
Bottom line
The legal landscape has changed dramatically, but, as you can see, “the federal under-21 handgun ban is gone” is too much of an oversimplification. The Fifth Circuit has held the federal dealer restriction unconstitutional. The district court’s injunction expressly protects only a defined group within its geographic scope. And the Justice Department has now formally concluded that the federal government may not impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds. The statute remains on the books, the scope of the Reese injunction is still being litigated, and ATF’s public dealer guidance has not yet been updated.
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