New York AG Defends Century-Old Gun Law Against Federal Rollback

By Buck Buckhorn · August 11, 2026

Opinion

Funny How the Government That Loses Your Mail Now Wants to Put Guns in It

Funny how these things work. A law sits on the books for nearly a hundred years. Congress passed it in 1927. The Postmaster General himself begged for it because people were mailing loaded revolvers through the postal system and postal workers were getting killed. The NYPD supported it. Everybody supported it. It was common sense, back when that phrase still meant something.

Then along comes January 2026, and the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel suddenly discovers that this century-old law violates the Second Amendment. Overnight. Just like that. The very next day, the Department of Justice files papers in a pending lawsuit and refuses to defend the law. The DOJ. The same DOJ that’s supposed to enforce federal law. Decided it just can’t be bothered anymore.

New York Attorney General Letitia James defends state gun laws against federal rollback.

Ask yourself who benefits from that timing.

So now New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with the AGs of New Jersey and Delaware, has to step in and do the federal government’s job for it. They filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, asking the court to uphold Section 1715 and toss the lawsuit. The NYPD is backing them. Because apparently we’ve reached the point where state attorneys general have to sue to keep the federal government from dismantling its own safety laws. That’s where we are.

And it’s not just the mailing law. The ATF is pushing what it calls a “New Era of Reform” that would let the entire gun purchasing process happen online. No in-person ID check. No face-to-face meeting. No dealer looking you in the eye and deciding whether something seems off. Timothy Nelson, a gun shop owner in Onondaga County, told Spectrum News that he denies customers regularly and contacts the sheriff when something feels wrong. “The onus is on us to make sure we’re comfortable with them,” he said. That system works. The ATF wants to eliminate it. The public comment period closes August 6, by the way. Mark that date. They’re hoping you won’t.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she'll introduce legislation requiring in-person firearm sales.

Now, I’m no fan of Letitia James. She’s a politician, and politicians do politician things. But I’ll give credit where it’s due. Her office has taken more than 9,600 guns off New York streets through buybacks and enforcement. She secured a $7.8 million judgment against Indie Guns for selling ghost gun components. She indicted the owner for shipping firearms and parts into New York. Those are real numbers, real cases, real consequences.

Meanwhile, the same federal experts who want to gut these rules are telling you it’s about “reducing the burden on law-abiding citizens.” Reducing the burden. Since when does this government care about reducing your burden? They don’t reduce your tax burden. They don’t reduce your regulatory burden. They don’t reduce the burden of their incompetence. But guns in the mail? Suddenly they’re the Efficiency Party.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says she’ll introduce legislation requiring in-person firearm sales in New York. Good. Clifford Ryan, who started a nonprofit called OG’s Against Violence after his son was shot and killed, supports it. “It’s a pretty trying time for a family,” he said, “and it’s one of the reasons why I support any gun laws that are put in place that can help deter something such as the tragedy that we faced.” That man buried his child. He doesn’t need a lecture from some OLC lawyer about constitutional theory.

OG's Against Violence founder Clifford Ryan supports in-person firearm sales legislation.

Here’s what nobody in Washington wants to admit. The USPS has no legal obligation to ensure packages comply with state gun laws. None. If Section 1715 goes away, there is no backup system. State law enforcement would have to build an entirely new tracking apparatus from scratch to monitor unregulated firearms mailing. Your tax dollars. Their mess. And ghost guns? Those don’t have serial numbers. Good luck tracking a package that doesn’t officially exist.

The establishment wants you to believe this is about freedom. It’s not. It’s about a federal agency that decided a law was inconvenient, a Justice Department that walked away from its own statute, and a system where the little guy pays the price every single time the experts decide to rearrange the furniture.

The government can’t deliver your mail on time. Now it wants to put a Glock in the box.

Sources