SPRINGFIELD, VA — Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) have secured a major legal win following a Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that declares a longstanding federal statute restricting the mailing of handguns unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
The decision stems from the case Shreve v. U.S. Postal Service, filed in July 2025 in the Western District of Pennsylvania. GOA brought the lawsuit on behalf of its members, challenging 18 U.S.C. § 1715 — a statute that has prohibited law-abiding Americans from using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to ship or receive concealable firearms, such as pistols and revolvers.
In its memorandum opinion, the OLC determined that Section 1715 cannot be constitutionally enforced against individuals who are shipping or receiving handguns for lawful purposes, including self-defense, sport shooting, and hunting. The opinion directs the USPS to revise its regulations to align with this constitutional interpretation and advises that criminal enforcement of the statute should cease.
The OLC based its conclusion on historical analysis guided by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller, McDonald v. Chicago, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The opinion found no historical tradition supporting a ban on the transportation of Second Amendment-protected firearms via the postal system. Moreover, the OLC concluded that the statute served an improper goal: suppressing the transportation and trade of constitutionally protected arms.
Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of GOA, emphasized the ruling’s significance:
“This opinion is a direct rebuke to decades of federal overreach that has unlawfully restricted Americans’ ability to acquire, maintain, and transport their firearms. The DOJ now recognizes what we’ve always known: the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, and that includes the rights to acquire and transport them.”
GOF Executive Vice President John Velleco added:
“When the government enforces a prohibition on guns and gun owners with no historical foundation and no constitutional support, it is acting outside the law. This historic move by the Department of Justice acknowledges that the Second Amendment protects the real, practical exercise of a fundamental right to acquire and transport a firearm.”
This decision could significantly reshape how firearms are legally shipped within the United States, especially for private citizens who previously had to rely on licensed dealers and costly alternatives for transfers.
This ruling underscores a critical principle: the right to keep and bear arms must also include the means to acquire and transport those arms. Prohibitions that lack historical justification and infringe on this ability are unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny following Bruen. While USPS regulation changes are forthcoming, the DOJ’s legal opinion already marks a pivotal shift in favor of lawful gun owners.
