Updated September 25, 2026
The legal landscape governing handgun purchases by adults between 18 and 20 years old changed dramatically this month—but the practical answer in Virginia remains clear.
On September 18, 2026, the United States Department of Justice announced that it would no longer seek federal criminal penalties against federally licensed firearms dealers who sell handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 through 20. The announcement followed a new opinion from DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that the federal age restriction violates the Second Amendment.
That is a major federal development. It is not, however, a repeal of the federal statute, a nationwide court injunction, or a ruling that overrides state law.
For Virginia residents and Virginia FFLs, the bottom line is:
An adult under 21 still cannot lawfully purchase a handgun from an FFL in Virginia.
What Changed at the Federal Level?
Since 1968, 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) has prohibited an FFL from selling a handgun to a person under 21. A companion provision, § 922(c)(1), applies the same minimum-age rule to certain non-face-to-face transactions.
On September 17, 2026, the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel issued a formal opinion concluding that these restrictions cannot constitutionally be enforced against dealers selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults between 18 and 20 years old.
The following day, DOJ publicly announced that it may not seek criminal penalties against dealers who make such sales.
This is more than a casual policy statement. OLC opinions generally provide controlling legal advice to federal Executive Branch agencies, including DOJ and ATF.
Nevertheless, several important limitations remain:
- Congress has not repealed §§ 922(b)(1) or 922(c)(1).
- ATF has not completed a rulemaking removing the age restriction.
- The current version of 27 C.F.R. § 478.99 still says an FFL may not transfer a handgun to someone under 21.
- ATF’s public minimum-age guidance still states that an FFL cannot transfer a handgun to a person under 21.
- The OLC opinion speaks specifically about imposing federal criminal penalties. It does not clearly explain how ATF will handle licensing inspections, revocation proceedings, forms, background-check procedures, or other administrative matters.
In other words, DOJ has announced a significant federal non-enforcement position, but the underlying statutory and regulatory machinery has not yet caught up.
The Federal Courts Remain Divided
The new DOJ position follows several conflicting federal court decisions.
The Fifth Circuit: The Restriction Is Unconstitutional
In Reese v. ATF, 127 F.4th 583 (5th Cir. 2025), the Fifth Circuit held that the federal restriction violates the Second Amendment as applied to law-abiding adults ages 18 through 20.
On January 27, 2026, the federal district court entered a final judgment and permanent injunction implementing that decision.
The scope of that injunction is limited. It applies:
- only within Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi;
- only to the named plaintiffs; and
- only to people who were members of the plaintiff organizations on January 27, 2026.
It is not a nationwide injunction, and it does not protect a Virginia dealer making a transfer in Virginia. Additional appellate proceedings remain pending.
The Fourth Circuit: The Restriction Is Constitutional
Virginia is within the Fourth Circuit, which reached the opposite conclusion.
The Eastern District of Virginia initially held the federal restriction unconstitutional in Fraser v. ATF and entered relief for a nationwide class of 18-to-20-year-olds.
But in McCoy v. ATF, 140 F.4th 568 (4th Cir. 2025), the Fourth Circuit reversed. It held that the federal age restriction is consistent with the historical tradition of regulating commercial firearm sales and directed the district court to dismiss the case.
The United States Supreme Court denied review on June 30, 2026.
A denial of Supreme Court review does not mean that the Supreme Court approved the Fourth Circuit’s reasoning. It does, however, leave McCoy as binding federal precedent within Virginia unless it is later overruled by the Fourth Circuit sitting en banc or by the Supreme Court.
DOJ’s new OLC opinion sharply criticizes the reasoning used in McCoy, but an Executive Branch legal opinion cannot overrule a federal court of appeals.
The result is an unusual conflict: the Fourth Circuit says the federal restriction is constitutional, while DOJ now says it is unconstitutional and will not seek criminal penalties under it against qualifying dealers.
Why the New DOJ Position Does Not Authorize Virginia Sales
Virginia enacted its own direct age restriction in 2026.
Under Virginia Code § 18.2-308.7(C):
It is unlawful for any person younger than 21 years of age to knowingly and intentionally purchase a handgun anywhere in the Commonwealth.
A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
The operative language is directed at the purchaser rather than being phrased as a direct dealer prohibition. Nevertheless, it also prevents the FFL from lawfully completing the transaction.
That is because a separate federal provision—18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(2)—prohibits an FFL from transferring a firearm when the purchaser’s purchase or possession would violate applicable state law. The same requirement appears in 27 C.F.R. § 478.99(b)(2).
The new OLC opinion addresses §§ 922(b)(1) and 922(c)(1). It does not invalidate or suspend § 922(b)(2).
Therefore, even if DOJ will not prosecute a Virginia dealer under the federal age provision, a Virginia FFL would still be transferring a handgun in connection with a purchase that Virginia law expressly prohibits.
Federal non-enforcement of one statute does not preempt or nullify Virginia’s separate restriction.
When Did the Virginia Law Take Effect?
The new Virginia restriction was enacted through HB 1525, Chapter 1102 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly.
The enacted legislation contained an emergency clause declaring that it took effect upon passage on April 22, 2026. During subsequent litigation, however, opponents argued that the emergency clause had not received the vote required by the Virginia Constitution. The Lynchburg Circuit Court treated the law as not becoming effective until the ordinary July 1 effective date.
That disagreement no longer changes the present result. Even if the emergency clause was ineffective, the law has been operative since at least July 1, 2026.
What Happened to the Earlier Virginia Injunction?
Virginia’s 2020 universal-background-check law requires most private firearm sales for money or other value to be processed through a licensed dealer.
That requirement created a special problem for adults between 18 and 20.
At the time:
- Virginia law allowed an otherwise eligible 18-to-20-year-old to purchase a handgun privately.
- Virginia required the private sale to be processed through an FFL.
- Federal law prohibited the FFL from transferring the handgun to the young adult.
- The combined effect was to eliminate the previously lawful private-purchase option.
In Wilson v. Hanley, the Lynchburg Circuit Court concluded that this interaction unconstitutionally prevented otherwise eligible young adults from purchasing handguns. In October 2025, the court entered a final order and permanent injunction barring enforcement of Virginia’s private-sale background-check statute.
Because the court found the provision inseverable, the injunction temporarily prevented enforcement of the private-sale background-check law as a whole—not merely in transactions involving young adults.
HB 1525 changed the legal premise underlying that decision. Once Virginia directly prohibited an under-21 person from purchasing a handgun, the Commonwealth argued that there was no longer an otherwise lawful private transaction being frustrated by the background-check requirement.
On June 24, 2026, the court dissolved the injunction effective July 1. The Virginia Attorney General announced that private-sale background checks would resume.
Several distinctions are important:
- The earlier Wilson order was a final trial-court judgment and permanent injunction.
- The injunction was dissolved; it was not reversed by a Virginia appellate court.
- The court did not decide whether HB 1525 itself is constitutional.
- HB 1525 was not the statute originally challenged in Wilson.
- DOJ’s later change in federal enforcement policy does not automatically revive the dissolved injunction.
A new lawsuit or amended challenge would be necessary to obtain relief against Virginia’s direct under-21 purchase prohibition. As of September 25, 2026, there is no operative injunction authorizing an 18-to-20-year-old to purchase a handgun in Virginia.
What Transactions Remain Possible in Virginia?
The Virginia statute prohibits a person under 21 from purchasing a handgun. It does not generally prohibit an otherwise eligible person who is at least 18 from possessing one.
That distinction means a genuine gift or inheritance may be treated differently from a purchase.
However, any claimed gift must actually be a gift. If the young adult supplies the money, reimburses the donor, or arranges for another person to act as the nominal purchaser, the transaction may constitute an unlawful straw purchase and may expose everyone involved to serious state and federal penalties.
Virginia law contains a specific protection for certain purchases by a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian for the lawful use of a child, grandchild, or ward who is ineligible to purchase solely because of age. Even then, the transaction must be structured as a genuine purchase by the adult donor—not a purchase made with the young adult’s funds.
Possession, carrying, transportation, concealed-handgun permits, prohibited-person status, and location restrictions are separate questions.
Practical Guidance for Virginia FFLs
Until a court enjoins the Virginia law or Virginia repeals it, the safest and legally supported dealer policy remains:
Do not transfer a handgun to a person under 21 in Virginia.
Virginia FFLs should not treat the new DOJ announcement as authorization to begin under-21 handgun transfers. The state purchase prohibition and the federal state-law-compliance requirement independently prevent the transaction.
A background-check “proceed” response also should not be treated as overriding the substantive age restriction. Background-check approval means only that the records search did not produce a disqualifying response; it does not relieve the dealer of the obligation to comply with all other federal and state laws.
Dealers should also watch for formal ATF guidance. At present, ATF’s published regulations and public minimum-age materials have not been updated to reflect the new OLC opinion.
Practical Guidance for Virginia Adults Ages 18–20
As of today, an otherwise eligible Virginia adult between 18 and 20:
- cannot purchase a handgun from a Virginia FFL;
- cannot lawfully purchase a handgun in a paid private sale within Virginia;
- ordinarily cannot avoid the restriction by ordering from an out-of-state dealer, because the handgun normally must be transferred through a Virginia FFL;
- may be able to lawfully possess a handgun received through a genuine gift or inheritance; and
- should never attempt to use another person as a nominal purchaser or reimburse someone for purchasing the handgun.
The Bottom Line
The nationwide legal foundation of the federal under-21 handgun restriction is breaking apart.
The Fifth Circuit has held the restriction unconstitutional. DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel now agrees and has announced that federal criminal penalties may not be imposed against dealers selling handguns to qualifying 18-to-20-year-old adults. Meanwhile, the Fourth Circuit has upheld the restriction, the federal statutes and regulations remain formally in place, and ATF has not yet issued public implementation guidance.
Virginia has added another layer by directly making the under-21 purchase itself a crime. That independent state restriction currently controls the practical answer.
Nationwide, the answer increasingly depends on the buyer’s state, the dealer’s location, the controlling federal circuit, and whether the parties fall within the protection of a particular injunction.
In Virginia, the answer remains no: an 18-to-20-year-old cannot currently purchase a handgun from an FFL.
This article addresses the law as of September 25, 2026, and is intended for general educational purposes. Because the federal policy is exceptionally new and further litigation or ATF guidance may arrive quickly, dealers and purchasers should confirm the current law before acting.
