DOJ: Ban on Mailing Firearms Not Enforceable - Articles

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Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 16, 2026

A nearly 100-year-old federal ban on mailing concealable firearms through the U.S. Postal Service infringes on the Second Amendment and cannot be enforced, according to an opinion released Thursday by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The move comes after the gun rights organization Gun Owners of America filed suit against the 1927 law. The postal service ban currently applies to pistols, revolvers and other firearms capable of being concealed on a person — including short-barreled shotguns and rifles. Rifles and shotguns, however, may be mailed between licensed dealers, manufacturers and importers. Non-mailable firearms found in the mail stream currently are “immediately reported to the United States Postal Inspection Service” and then referred to the relevant U.S. attorney’s office for prosecution. The Hill has more on the story.