A divided Fifth Circuit panel issued a Second Amendment ruling on September 18 that, if it holds, would allow licensed dealers anywhere in the country to sell handguns directly to out-of-state buyers for the first time since the Gun Control Act of 1968. In Elite Precision Customs v. ATF, a two-judge majority struck down the intertwined provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 922 that have for nearly six decades required handgun buyers to route out-of-state purchases through a local dealer — a step that adds a transfer fee and a second background check to every such transaction. Firearms Policy Coalition litigated the case.

The restriction has no equivalent for long guns: under existing law, a buyer can walk into any FFL in any state and take home a rifle or shotgun on the spot. Handguns have always been different, subject to a residency requirement that Congress built into the original Gun Control Act. The majority opinion, written by Judge Jerry E. Smith and joined by Judge Kurt Engelhardt, found that this asymmetry imposes an unconstitutional burden on the right to acquire arms. The court drew on its own Reese v. ATF decision, which recognized that the right to keep and bear arms includes the right to purchase them, and held that a fee imposed as a condition on exercising a fundamental right cannot survive Second Amendment scrutiny. Transfer fees typically run between $25 and $50 per transaction.

The plaintiffs were Elite Precision Customs, a Texas FFL that wanted to sell handguns directly to buyers from neighboring states, and two would-be buyers — one in New Mexico, one in Arizona — who had chosen specific pistols at the Texas shop but faced the transfer-fee-and-intermediary requirement. AmmoLand reports the practical implication is straightforward: if the ruling is not stayed, a buyer in Louisiana could walk into a Texas gun store, complete the standard Form 4473 and NICS check, pay Texas's retail price, and drive home — the same way any long-gun purchase already works.

The Fifth Circuit covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The ruling does not affect other circuits, and there is a dissenting third judge on the panel, which sets up a plausible en banc challenge. The Department of Justice has not yet indicated whether it will seek a stay or petition for en banc review. FPC called the decision a "major victory" and described it as the first federal appellate ruling to strike down the interstate handgun transfer requirement on Second Amendment grounds.

The broader context sharpens the stakes. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in December in the Viramontes-related assault weapons ban cases, and it issued the landmark Wolford ruling earlier this year striking down Hawaii's no-carry default. A government appeal in Elite Precision Customs would put another major acquisition-rights question in front of a Court that has not been sympathetic to broad firearms restrictions since Bruen. Legal observers at the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action are watching the DOJ's next move closely.

Watch for a government response within the next 30 days. If the DOJ does not seek a stay, dealers within the Fifth Circuit's jurisdiction could begin processing direct interstate handgun sales immediately under the ruling.