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ALTOONA, PA — Gun Owners of America (GOA), the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), and Pennsylvania resident Bonita Shreve have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a nearly century-old law that prohibits ordinary Americans from mailing handguns through the United States Postal Service. The suit, filed on July 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, argues that the 1927 statute violates the Second Amendment and lacks historical justification under the legal framework established by recent Supreme Court rulings.
At the center of the case is 18 U.S.C. § 1715, a law enacted during the Prohibition era that bans the mailing of pistols, revolvers, and other concealable firearms by individuals who are not federally licensed firearms dealers or government agents. While USPS continues to transport handguns daily for law enforcement and FFL holders, law-abiding private citizens like Shreve face felony penalties — including up to two years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine — for attempting to do the same.
Shreve, a lawful gun owner from Blair County, Pennsylvania, seeks to mail a Bersa Thunder handgun as a gift to her father in eastern Pennsylvania. Because private carriers such as UPS and FedEx do not permit non-FFLs to ship handguns, her only remaining option would be USPS — which federal law prohibits.
The plaintiffs argue that such restrictions are inconsistent with the original public understanding of the Second Amendment and cannot survive under the constitutional scrutiny laid out in District of Columbia v. Heller, N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, and United States v. Rahimi. These cases emphasized that firearm regulations must be rooted in the Nation’s historical tradition, which plaintiffs argue this 1927 ban is not.
The 25-page complaint alleges that:
• There is no Founding-era tradition of banning the mailing or shipment of firearms by law-abiding citizens.
• The law creates an unjustifiable distinction between government agents, FFLs, and private individuals.
• Modern controls, such as those under the Gun Control Act and Brady Act, already regulate firearm transactions without a complete mailing ban.
GOA and GOF, representing millions of supporters nationwide, contend that the current USPS policy is not only outdated but also infringes on Americans’ ability to transfer firearms lawfully for self-defense purposes.
“This Prohibition-era relic is arbitrary and unconstitutional,” GOA said in a public statement. “Americans should not be treated as criminals for mailing a handgun to a family member within the same state.”
The case seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to strike down the ban and prevent future enforcement. It is another in a series of legal efforts to roll back federal firearm restrictions that lack historical support under Bruen-style analysis.
This lawsuit also highlights the practical difficulties that everyday gun owners face in complying with firearm laws — especially when transporting handguns between family members for lawful purposes.
Gun rights organizations have long argued that Second Amendment protections extend beyond simple possession to encompass necessary means of exercising that right, including transportation and transfer. As courts increasingly apply text-and-history scrutiny to gun regulations, this USPS handgun ban will now face a constitutional test of its own.
