After its landmark Fifth Circuit victory, FPC rejects DOJ's latest attempt to avoid a lasting injunction protecting its members nationwide against the unconstitutional handgun purchase ban for adults under 21.

NEW ORLEANS (November 4, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it filed a reply brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in FPC v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (formerly Reese v. ATF), fighting the Trump Administration's latest attempt to evade meaningful judicial relief after FPC's landmark victory against the federal government's unconstitutional ban on handgun and ammunition sales to 18-to-20-year-old adults.

In January 2025, FPC secured a major victory when the Fifth Circuit held that the federal ban on sales of handguns and handgun ammunition by licensed dealers to 18-to-20-year-old adults violates the Second Amendment. But rather than accept that defeat and provide complete relief, the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) fought to restrict the resulting injunction to the geographic boundaries of the Fifth Circuit and individuals who were already members of the plaintiff organizations when the district court entered judgment.

FPC appealed those restrictions, continuing its fight against the DOJ's injunction-avoidance scheme and seeking complete relief for its members throughout the United States.

Now, nearly six years after FPC filed the lawsuit, the Trump DOJ is asking the court to dismiss the case as moot because its Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a September 17 opinion agreeing with FPC and the Fifth Circuit that the federal age-based handgun purchase restrictions are unconstitutional.

But that opinion does not repeal the law, permanently prohibit its enforcement, or provide the enforceable judicial relief FPC and its members are entitled to receive. As FPC's latest brief explains, the government's legal position can be reversed, and the DOJ has offered no evidence that the ATF has actually ceased enforcement or instructed firearm dealers to process handgun purchases by peaceable 18-to-20-year-old adults.

“The federal government lost on the Second Amendment. Now the Trump DOJ admits its handgun ban is unconstitutional, yet it's still fighting to deny FPC and our members the full benefit of our victory,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “It’s great that the DOJ is finally admitting that this immoral gun ban is unconstitutional, but an opinion from some government lawyers is not a repeal of the law and it's not an enforceable court order. As gun owners have learned the hard way, administrations change and those opinions can be reversed with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, constitutionally protected rights don't come and go depending on who's occupying the White House. We've fought this unconstitutional ban for years and we're not going to let the Trump Administration rig the process so that the federal government can escape the consequences of losing. The DOJ should stop fighting us and work with us to eliminate these unconstitutional restrictions for good. Either way, FPC and our Grassroots Army will continue to Fight Forward until every unconstitutional age-based gun ban is eliminated, period.”

FPC's reply argues that the government cannot make a constitutional lawsuit disappear merely by voluntarily changing its legal position, particularly where the challenged law remains on the books and the government's decision can be reversed. Under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the government bears a heavy burden to demonstrate that its unlawful conduct cannot reasonably be expected to recur. In its brief, FPC argues that the DOJ's reversible legal opinion does not satisfy that burden.

The brief also attacks the government's effort to deny complete relief to FPC members nationwide, including those who joined after the district court entered judgment. The Trump DOJ relies in part on the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. CASA, but FPC explains that the government fundamentally misunderstands the nature of lawsuits brought by membership organizations to vindicate the rights of their members.

FPC is not asking for a universal injunction protecting every person in America. It is asking for complete relief for the actual organizational plaintiffs and their affected members, regardless of where they live or when they joined. FPC argues that such relief is supported by longstanding Supreme Court precedent recognizing the rights of associations to represent their members in federal court.

The government's position is particularly absurd given the nature of this lawsuit. FPC filed the case in November 2020, nearly six years ago. During that time, multiple generations of 18-to-20-year-old adults have aged out of the federal prohibition. If the government's theory prevailed, FPC and its fellow plaintiffs could be forced to file a never-ending series of lawsuits as additional members turn 18 or join the organizations.

This is precisely why FPC has aggressively opposed the Trump DOJ's broader attempts to undermine associational standing and meaningful judicial relief. The government's approach threatens to make constitutional litigation slower, more expensive, and less effective for ordinary Americans who join organizations like FPC to defend their rights.

Indeed, the DOJ's position stands in stark contrast to FPC's recent victory against the federal post office gun ban, where a federal court rejected the government's attempt to narrow relief and preserved an injunction protecting present and future FPC members. The government ultimately abandoned its appeal in that case.

FPC's Reese victory is part of its sustained nationwide campaign to eliminate unconstitutional laws discriminating against peaceable 18-to-20-year-old adults. That campaign has also produced major victories against age-based carry restrictions in Worth v. Jacobson and Lara v. Paris, and continues through litigation including FPC's recent Maines v. Bethel challenge to Pennsylvania's ban as well as its Pool v. Besson challenge to Louisiana’s ban.

Through its latest filing, FPC is asking the Fifth Circuit to reject the government's mootness argument, reverse the district court's unjustifiably narrow injunction, and order complete relief protecting the affected members of FPC and its fellow plaintiff organizations throughout the United States.

FPC is joined in this litigation by the Second Amendment Foundation and Louisiana Shooting Association. The plaintiffs are represented by David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, and William V. Bergstrom of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, along with George J. Armbruster III of Armbruster & Associates, APLC. FPC also thanks FPC Action Foundation for its strategic support of this important case.

FPC thanks its Grassroots Army members and supporters for making its litigation, research, and other programs possible. Individuals who want to join FPC and support its work to restore liberty throughout the United States can join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.

About Firearms Policy Coalition

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.