DOJ Restores Second Amendment Rights to Millions of Americans
Young adults can now purchase handguns for self-defense under new DOJ legal opinion.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered a major victory to law-abiding Americans in September after concluding that the federal government cannot constitutionally enforce a handgun purchasing ban on adults ages 18 through 20.
“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. "The Constitution protects the people’s right to keep and bear arms.”
Additionally, the department clarified that gun retailers, dealers, and Federal Firearm License (FFL) carriers would not be subject to punishment for selling handguns to 18 through 20-year-old Americans.
“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,” Gaiser continued.
How We Got Here
The federal government has barred federally licensed dealers from selling handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds since 1968—a restriction that has remained intact for nearly six decades.
The Office of Legal Counsel’s new opinion explains that the act is no longer constitutionally sound due to recent Supreme Court rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, and subsequent decisions, including Wolford v. Lopez.
Each of these rulings clarifies that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is for all the people.
Why It Matters
The Left constantly looks to chip away at small pieces of the Second Amendment. The handgun ban for young adults is no different.
These individuals can vote, die for their country, apply for loans, and receive full judgment in the courts. Despite this, they are not trusted to defend their lives and liberties.
The Left has no issue with young adults getting abortions, changing their biological sex, getting married, fighting in wars, or accruing substantial debt—but when it comes to firearms, they immediately assume a lack of maturity.
The stark contradiction reveals the true intention. It has never been about protecting young adults. It has always been just another way to chip away at the Second Amendment.
The DOJ’s updated legal opinion removes almost six decades of constitutional infringement levied against law-abiding young adults.
What Gun Control Groups are Saying
"The decision not to enforce the law will make it easier for young adults—a community at higher risk for gun violence—to obtain firearms," said Kris Brown, president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence.
“Abandoning protections that target the highest-risk age group for handgun violence isn’t just an unconscionable surrender of public safety—it is a dangerous dereliction of duty,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law.
"This is yet another illegal and dangerous action by the Trump administration to please their gun lobby CEO donors," said Emma Brown, executive director for Giffords.
While these individuals base their opinion on “safety,” their true intentions become glaringly obvious when looking at the data.
Law-abiding Young Adults are Not Violent
Law-abiding adults are not purchasing firearms to commit crimes.
In fact, A 2019 FBI study showed that only seven percent of crimes committed with a firearm involved legally purchased guns. Half of all offenders had stolen the firearm, while 43 percent had purchased it from underground or black-market vendors.
Additionally, allowing law-abiding young adults to carry handguns only increases the likelihood of a good Samaritan stopping an active shooter. FBI statistics show that over 36 percent of all active shooter incidents are stopped by lawful gun owners.
If "gun-free" zones are removed from the dataset, the number rises to over 52 percent.
Many on the Left would combat this belief and claim that more guns always equal more violence—but once again, the data does not support that claim.
New FBI data for 2024 to 2025 shows “the largest year-to-year decline in violent crime rates since FBI estimations began in 1936.” Murder fell 18.1 percent, rape fell 7.6 percent, aggravated assault fell 7.2 percent, and robbery fell 18.5 percent.
To no surprise, Second Amendment restoration was simultaneously at one of its highest historical levels.
Moving Forward
The Left will forever chase gun control under the guise of public safety, but we know the real data.
The DOJ’s revised legal opinion is a major victory for all gun owners in America, but it does not stop here. Americans must be ever vigilant as new policies are implemented.
After all, 18- through 20-year-olds lost their rights for nearly 60 years.
