Feds Call Under-21 Handgun Ban Unconstitutional, Still Fight to Keep Court Order Limited to 3 States

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BELLEVUE, WA — The Second Amendment Foundation and its partners asked the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday, Nov. 4, to widen a court order that shields only some of their 18-to-20-year-old members from the federal ban on buying handguns from licensed dealers. SAF is joined by Firearms Policy Coalition and the Louisiana Shooting Association in FPC v. ATF, formerly Reese v. ATF.

A Fifth Circuit panel struck down the ban in 2025. According to SAF’s announcement, the district court then limited relief to members in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana who had joined by Jan. 27, 2026, when judgment was entered. SAF appealed.

On Sept. 17, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion agreeing the ban is unconstitutional. The government now argues that makes the case moot, meaning there is nothing left for the court to decide. It is also fighting to keep the court order narrow.

The reply brief says a policy is not a court order. A government that stops on its own must show it is “absolutely clear” the conduct “could not reasonably be expected to recur.” And the brief points out that “the Government has offered no evidence that the actual Defendant in this case, ATF, has ceased enforcement or instructed licensed dealers to process handgun purchases by 18-to-20-year-olds.”

The brief also argues OLC opinions get reversed. It cites three examples:

• The office reversed itself on President Trump’s tax returns between 2019 and 2021.
• Twenty Democratic senators sent a letter challenging the decision.
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X: “Not in New York. No teenager should be able to walk into a gun store and buy a handgun.”

One administration’s legal opinion can be rewritten by the next. A court order does not change when the White House does.

On scope, the government relies on Trump v. CASA, the 2025 Supreme Court ruling that limited orders blocking a policy for everyone in the country. The brief says the plaintiffs here are the organizations, which can sue on behalf of their members. Full relief therefore means covering every member “regardless of where they live or when they joined.”

The suit was filed Nov. 6, 2020. Under the government’s approach, the brief says, an 18-year-old who wanted the benefit of this win would have had to join at age 12.

“If the government had its way, the 18-year-old SAF members who could take advantage of the injunction would have been members when they were 12 years old, and that’s just preposterous,” SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said.

More from USA Carry:

• Tennessee Fights to Revive Two Gun Laws a Court Already Called Unconstitutional
• Glock Sues Connecticut in Federal Court to Block ‘Convertible Pistol’ Ban After State Officials Wouldn’t Say Whether Its Handguns Are Legal to Sell
• Thrown Down, Prosthetic Leg Torn Off, Still Under Attack: Gray Man Fired Four Shots and the DA Calls It Self-Defense
• Second Amendment Foundation Fights to Extend Under-21 Handgun Ban Victory Nationwide
• Fifth Circuit Strikes Down the 1958 Federal Switchblade Act’s Interstate Ban, Holding Switchblades Are Protected Arms and the Right to Keep Them Includes the Right to Make, Ship, and Sell Them

The court has not ruled. This case covers buying a handgun from a dealer, not carrying one. Carry rules are still set state by state, and my concealed carry permit information by state covers those. Knowing which rules apply to you is part of the right mindset at any age.

I will continue tracking FPC v. ATF as the Fifth Circuit takes up the scope of relief.

Read the original story: Feds Call Under-21 Handgun Ban Unconstitutional, Still Fight to Keep Court Order Limited to 3 States