May 12, 2023 

Washington, D.C. — Today, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Texas, challenging the Department of Justice’s de facto waiting periods for NICS background checks on adults who are not yet 21.  

This new policy is a result of the Cornyn-Murphy gun control package passed last summer, which now imposes unconstitutional waiting periods on young adults. A NICS background check for these individuals now requires a review of juvenile justice records, state mental health records, and those from local law enforcement where the buyer resides. This review is in addition to those records already held by the FBI NICS System, and because those state and local agencies are not equipped or prepared to provide this information in a timely manner, young gun buyers are simply forced to wait with no recourse, which is a clear violation of their Second Amendment rights. 

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:    

“GOA repeatedly warned legislators and the public how this would grossly violate young Americans’ Constitutional rights, and yet Texas Senator John Cornyn compromised away those rights anyway. Now we see young adults frequently and routinely being denied their right to purchase a firearm in a timely manner, and this right delayed is unjustly a right denied. Compromise is no way to legislate when dealing with people’s God-given rights.” 

Sam Paredes, on behalf of the Board for GOF, added:  

“We have worked hard since this gun control bill passed to document and compile many of the compelling cases where people were ridiculously delayed in purchasing a firearm, in some cases for weeks! This only goes to show how ineffective the background check system really is, and instead of proposing real solutions to ensure that We the People can protect ourselves from dangerous criminals, compromise Cornyn and a handful of anti-gun Republicans teamed up with the anti-gun legislator in chief, Chris Murphy, to double down on an ineffective policy to further infringe on our rights.” 

This lawsuit was first covered by Fox News, read more here. 

GOA spokesmen are available for interviews.  Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center. 

-GOA-