By: Richard L. Smith
New Jersey is stepping into a federal court fight to protect a nearly century-old firearms law after the Trump Administration declined to defend it, according to a statement released by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, alongside the attorneys general of New York and Delaware, has moved to intervene in a federal lawsuit challenging a longstanding statute that bars the U.S. Postal Service from mailing certain concealable firearms.
The law at the center of the case — 18 U.S.C. § 1715 — was enacted by Congress in 1927 and prohibits USPS from shipping specific firearms, including handguns.
The statute has remained intact for decades without being struck down. However, in the pending case Shreve v. USPS in federal court in Pennsylvania, plaintiffs are seeking to invalidate the measure.
In January 2026, shortly before a legal brief was due in the case, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an opinion concluding that the statute is unconstitutional as applied to certain firearms.
The DOJ also announced it would no longer enforce the law and directed USPS to revise its regulations accordingly.
With the federal government declining to defend the statute, New Jersey and the other states have filed motions asking the court to allow them to intervene and to grant summary judgment in favor of upholding the law.
“If the Trump Administration refuses to defend critical federal firearms law, the states’ chief law enforcement officers will rise to the challenge,” Attorney General Davenport said in the statement.
She added that the mailing restriction supports state background check systems by preventing individuals from bypassing safeguards designed to keep firearms out of the hands of convicted felons, domestic abusers, and those in mental health crises.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, striking down the statute could open a pathway for people prohibited from owning firearms under New Jersey law to obtain weapons through the mail — potentially without background checks.
The state also warned that firearms banned locally, such as ghost guns and silencers, could be shipped across state lines.
Officials further noted that USPS, unlike private carriers such as UPS, does not have a statutory obligation to verify compliance with state firearm transfer laws, potentially creating enforcement gaps.
The state argues that the impact would be significant. According to the statement, 79 percent of crime guns recovered in New Jersey are traced to out-of-state federal firearms licensees.
If firearms can be mailed without going through licensed dealers, law enforcement agencies may face increased investigative burdens and reduced ability to trace weapons used in crimes.
In their court filings, the states also contend that the federal mailing restriction does not violate the Second Amendment.
They argue that the statute regulates the mailing of firearms — not the right to keep and bear arms — and aligns with historical practices, noting that for much of U.S. history firearms were not accepted in the mail.
New Jersey, New York, and Delaware maintain some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 2023, those states recorded the second, third, and twelfth lowest gun death rates nationwide, respectively, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
The case now moves forward in federal court, where the states are seeking to preserve what they describe as a critical layer of protection in their broader gun safety frameworks.