A few Christmases ago, I wrote about the Nonmailable Firearms Act of 1927. You can read that post here.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) formally opined that the act was unconstitutional and violates the Second Amendment, at least to the extent that it prohibited mailing firearms that are constitutionally protected. (Think pistols and revolvers, but not necessarily short-barreled shotguns.)
OLC has some of the biggest-brained lawyers in the Department. (I always hoped when I was at ATF someone would recognize my legal genius and ask me to do a detail to OLC. Alas, no one ever did. I’m sure it’s because they weren’t aware of my interest…and not because I’m not a legal genius!)
I once asked someone the difference between OLC and OLP (the Office of Legal Policy). Their answer: OLC says what the law is, OLP says what the law should be. I’m sure that’s an oversimplification but I thought it was helpful.
So when OLC speaks, that’s the answer for the executive branch. The Department can’t “revoke” or “repeal” the law, of course. Only Congress can do that. But it can say that it won’t enforce the law, and that’s what they did here. They told the U.S. Postal Service to focus elsewhere.
Which is good, because the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has its hands full with other more pressing matters.
You can read OLC’s opinion here.