New York Governor Kathy Hochul said her state will keep blocking handgun sales to people ages 18 to 20 after the Department of Justice concluded a federal version of that restriction is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced.

The Justice Department issued that finding on September 18, 2026. Hochul answered on X the next day that New York law still bars those sales and will not change.

She did not say whether 18- to 20-year-olds would also lose other constitutional protections such as voting, speech, religion, and trial by jury, or whether only Second Amendment rights would stay restricted until age 21.