New Trump Rule Could Allow Handguns To Be Shipped Through the US Mail

(Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

A new Trump administration rule could allow handguns to be shipped through the U.S. mail for the first time in nearly 100 years.

Congress passed a law in 1927, barring the USPS from shipping firearms unless they were from licensed dealers. However, Trump’s Department of Justice challenged the law in January, arguing that it violated the Second Amendment.

An opinion issued by the DOJ in January to justify the policy change read, “So long as Congress chooses to run a parcel service, the Second Amendment precludes it from refusing to ship constitutionally protected firearms to and from law-abiding citizens, even if they are not licensed manufacturers or dealers.”

Congress does not technically “run” USPS operations, but does have constitutional authority and oversight.

USPS proposed the new rule last month that would allow anyone to mail firearms like pistols and revolvers within a state.

To mail guns across state lines, the owner must ship the firearm to themselves in the care of another person, and must travel to the state to open the package themselves.

In a statement, USPS said that it is reviewing public comments before drafting a final proposal.

A coalition of attorneys general are challenging the rule, arguing that allowing guns to be sent through the mail would bypass background check requirements and make it easier for people like felons and domestic abusers to gain access to deadly weapons.

John Commerford, executive director of lobbying for the National Rifle Association chalked the rule up as a win for Second Amendment proponents.

“Thanks to President Trump and his administration, USPS will finally allow these firearms to be shipped under the same commonsense safety conditions as rifles and shotguns,” Commerford said.

Such a rule change will turn USPS into a “gun trafficking pipeline” for illegal weapons “while stripping law enforcement of the tools they need to prevent and investigate gun crime,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told ABC News.

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