States object to new rule allowing mailing of guns
The change is the result of a Justice Department interpretation of a 1927 law
Guns by mail? A coalition of 23 state attorneys general think it’s a bad idea.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general on Thursday to formally oppose a proposed U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule that would allow individuals to mail certain firearms, arguing the move is unlawful and threatens public safety.
The opposition comes in response to the April 2 proposed rulemaking by the USPS, which seeks to align postal regulations with a January 2026 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion. That opinion declared a century-old federal ban on mailing concealable firearms unconstitutional and directed the USPS to cease enforcement.
In a comment letter sent to postal officials, Raoul and the multistate coalition argued that the executive branch lacks the authority to unilaterally bypass the 1927 statute passed by Congress.
A new gun gap
“The proposed rule would open a new gap through which guns which are prohibited in Illinois could enter our state, and could provide people prohibited from owning firearms with a new way to access them,” Raoul said in a statement. “From my city of Chicago to Peoria, Rockford, East St. Louis, Danville, and every community in between... such unchecked access to guns would be disastrous.”
The coalition contends that allowing private individuals to bypass licensed sellers when mailing firearms would facilitate the flow of weapons to prohibited persons, including felons and domestic abusers.
The National Rifle Association disagrees.
“In a monumental development for gun owners, the Department of Justice has acknowledged that one of the oldest federal gun control laws on the books is unconstitutional,” the NRA said.
It said the USPS prohibition “continues to create massive and needless headaches for law-abiding gun owners.” It said that licensed gun owners have been blocked from mailing guns to themselves when traveling or moving.
Lack of oversight
The attorneys general also cited a lack of oversight, noting that unlike private carriers, the Postal Service does not have a statutory obligation to ensure shipments comply with varying state laws regarding firearm acquisition or transfers. This, they argue, creates a loophole that could see state-banned weapons shipped across borders undetected.
Furthermore, the letter warns of the fiscal and operational impact on local government, stating that the rule would make it significantly more difficult and expensive for law enforcement to trace weapons used in crimes, thereby reducing the effectiveness of existing investigative tools.
The DOJ’s January 2026 opinion marked a radical shift in federal policy, claiming the 1927 Mailing of Firearms Act violates the Second Amendment. However, the coalition noted Thursday that the statute has stood for nearly 100 years without any court finding it invalid.
A longstanding law
Prior to the 1930s, the Act was the only federal provision regulating firearms — a ban on using the mail to send firearms capable of concealment on one’s person, University of Chicago researchers said.
Its core provision is that pistols, revolvers, and other firearms capable of being concealed on the person are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried by the mails or delivered by any officer or employee of the Postal Service, according to the Legal Information Institute.
Recently, as the 23 AGs noted, the Department of Justice asserted that the law is unconstitutional, with the executive branch stating it may not enforce Section 1715 with respect to constitutionally protected firearms, and directing the Postal Service to modify its regulations accordingly. NRA-ILA
There’s also a bill in the current Congress to repeal it outright — H.R. 3033 in the 119th Congress, called the “Protecting the Mailing of Firearms Act,” which would repeal Section 1715 entirely. Congress.gov
Raoul was joined in the opposition by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.